With Tumbler Ridge’s fortieth anniversary coming ever closer, council is considering what to do with Town Hall.
The projected life span of the roof on town hall is 40 years. It’s currently sitting at about 35 years.
With this and other repairs in mind, the District has commissioned a number of studies and strategies from RDH Building Science Inc. to improve the Fire and Protective Services and District Office buildings.
The report came before council at the last Policies and Priorities Meeting on May 11, identifying problems with the building structures and proposed solutions and structural improvements.
These include changes to the design of the iconic town hall, a proposal that doesn’t sit well with many residents, as well as Councillor Joanne Kirby, who moved to have the proposal to begin repair, to restore Town Hall to its original design.
CAO Jordan Wall says the District did consult with the community about the design, and the people who responded didn’t like the current design. “We took that feedback and came up with the drawings in the report.”
But when the proposed upgrades to Town Hall were shown to the public, the overwhelming response was to keep it the same.
Other members of council, however, are not so sure that the repairs proposed needed to be so extensive. Councillor Howe is the most outspoken of these. “There are other ideas that can be looked at. I think we’re looking too far ahead and discussing the colour scheme; we should be looking at if we need to do it at all.”
He says the reports don’t seem to say the buildings are nearing their end of life. “You run the usable life as long as you can,” he says. This extends the building’s life in the future.
“It seems like we’re putting out a lot of money to do insulation on these buildings,” he says. “There isn’t a lot of structural issues with the building. What I read is the doors and windows need to be replaced and some small repairs are required. I’m not in favour to spend all this money as one lump sum.”
Instead, he says he wants to see a more detailed breakdown of the costs. “We’re looking at spending upwards of $2.5 million,” he says, much of which would be to improve the building envelope and reduce heat loss. Yet, he says, according to the report, the savings it would bring is only $5000 annually. “That doesn’t seem a good trade-off. I want to see a better breakdown of costs.”
Councillor Norbury says that it’s not just about the building envelope, but about the work conditions. Especially with the fire hall. “We have so many people volunteering their time and I want to provide them with the best space possible.”
He says the repairs have been pushed back a few years already. “We need to make sure this move forwards in a timely manner so it doesn’t get pushed forward another year. That’s the priority for me.”
The original motion—to move forward with the repairs—was defeated, and a second motion, asking for a detailed breakdown of the costs was passed.
