The temporary relocation will be for three to five years, until council approves a plan for the permanent future location for meetings, per the recommendations outlined in their 2023 Facilities Review
Kingsville council is on the move.
At their regular meeting on Tuesday council agreed to relocating council and committee meetings to the Unico Hall, located at 37 Beech Street in Kingsville, with office space available for staff in the current Town Hall council chambers.
It was as a result of a notice of motion brought by Councillor Tony Gaffan, which was originally asking for either the Unico or the Grovedale Arts and Culture Centre, but changed to the Unico on the motion after a discussion.
The temporary relocation will be for three to five years, until council approves a plan for the permanent future location for meetings, per the recommendations outlined in their 2023 Facilities Review.
Gaffan says in terms of setup the Unico just made more sense than the Grovedale because when it's used they'd have to do the full put up and take down every time.
"The Unico however we think can be semi-permanent, there still has to be set up done, but we're hoping that we can speak to the user groups and come to agreement so that we don't have to set up everything every time depending on their needs," he said.
Councillor Thomas Neufeld says the upstairs at the Grovedale could be used as a place to go for anyone who gets displaced at the Unico by this decision.
"We're looking at this to be temporary, we say temporary but it could be three to five years, or five to seven, until we come up with a plan for future meetings which means a future town hall. And then at the that point, the Unico should be liquidated which was the recommendation in the beginning. I think that is the direction we need to go, and after council chambers pulls out of the Unico it's sold."
Mayor Dennis Rogers says it was clear during the discussions that the Unico had a minimal amount of setup, they'll discuss with user groups about other options, and that they wanted to be as fiscally responsible as possible.
"And I understand the Grovedale, and I understand there's some political pressure for that building as well. But just the unknown, and us causing to renovate it, and us having to take away the upstairs for things like our Migration Festival, or things for music concerts or you name it, which have been historically used for that... I don't know if I can agree with that," Rogers said.
Gaffan says they'll look at moving before the end of this year, with preparations in tandem with administration staff set to get under way immediately.