Another step forward for the Cottam Community Centre.
During Monday's meeting, Kingsville council approved the tender to be awarded to TCI Titan Contracting Inc. to build the new centre, and to demolish the Ridgeview Park Community Centre, as well as the Cottam Library, which passed unanimously.
The tender was awarded with a price tag of $3-million.
In May, council approved the design of the new centre, with a couple of asks for modifications including a larger community hall and a partition in the hall, which was worked into the final design.
Key elements to this new facility also include an outdoor covered pavilion, a kitchen, washrooms, a new space for the Cottam Library, storage rooms for the Cottam Rotary, and the widening of the main driveway to allow better traffic flow to the centre.
Councillor Tony Gaffan says he's heard from community members that they're happy.
"It was just nice to hear the buzz that everyone is excited about the new building. And you can see that it's come to its end, and I'm glad that we're making this move."
Tim Del Greco, Senior Manager of Capital Projects and Engineering with the Town, says they want a shovel in the ground this year.
"The overall intent is to start demo this year of the Ridgeview Park pavilion facility, and start getting a shovel in the ground for the new build there. The existing library building, we won't demo that until next year. We'll wait until the new facility is up and running, give Cottam Library an opportunity to transition over and then we'll tear down that building."
Del Greco says there will be no increases to taxes for this centre.
"Based on the level of funding that was committed to this project in this years budget, we're proposing to internally finance the project, and to repay ourselves basically at the same level of funding as the 2024 budget. There's no reason that council would have to increase taxes in order to complete the project."
The new centre will be located within Ridgeview Park.
Council says they will first demolish the Ridgeview Park Field House and Pavilion, and start the construction of the new build in 2024.
The Cottam Library will continue to operate out of the community centre until construction is complete in mid-2025, where they will then transition into the new building. Following that, the existing library will be demolished.
$2.8-million was approved in the 2024 budget for this project, with the Town taking on internal debt over six years to ensure there are no further tax increases to residents for the build.