{"id":23371,"date":"2019-03-28T12:53:50","date_gmt":"2019-03-28T16:53:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=23371"},"modified":"2019-04-04T19:11:13","modified_gmt":"2019-04-04T23:11:13","slug":"library-square-redevelopment-gets-38-million-council-green-light","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/library-square-redevelopment-gets-38-million-council-green-light\/","title":{"rendered":"Library Square redevelopment gets $38 million Council green light"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Brock Weir<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is billed as a\ndowntown revitalization project that will see positive dividends for\ngenerations to come, and when Council sat down last Thursday to formally\napprove the estimated $38.2 million redevelopment of Library Square last week,\nproponents hailed it as a \u201chistoric moment\u201d for Aurora.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Council, at a\nSpecial Council meeting on Thursday night, voted 5 \u2013 2 in favour of moving\nforward with a new cultural and community space in Downtown Aurora, one which\nwill include both a three-storey addition to the historic Church Street School\nand a multipurpose outdoor gathering space intended to be a year-round\nattraction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is a pivotal\npoint in our Town\u2019s history and one that will change the trajectory of our\ncommunity,\u201d said Mayor Tom Mrakas in a statement following the meeting. \u201cOur\nresidents are excited about this project and I am incredibly proud of Council\nfor working together to take this next step to move the project from concept to\nreality. In many ways, we are returning to the roots of our Town by bringing\nour downtown core back to its former glory and making it a dynamic community\ngathering space once again. We are investing in our community and I am\nconfident this will encourage business to follow suit and invest in downtown Aurora.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Mayor\u2019s comments\nechoed many of the positive comments offered by Council members last week, but\ndespite both Councillors Wendy Gaertner and John Gallo offering support for the\nLibrary Square vision as a whole, financing and other details gave them cause\nto vote against the recommendation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once brought to\nfruition, Library Square, which is located at the intersection of Church Street\nand Victoria Street in Aurora\u2019s Downtown Core, will boast a new public building\nconnected to 22 Church Street, that will include a flexible performance hall\nfor up to 250 people, studio and multipurpose spaces and archival facilities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Outside, between the\nhistoric schoolhouse and the Aurora Public Library, plans include a\nrefrigerated ice rink, water features, amphitheatre-style seating and a large\nopen gathering space that planners say will be an ideal location for concerts,\nmusic festivals, public art displays, skating, food truck festivals and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The current capital\nbudget for the Library Square redevelopment stands at $38.2 million, which will\nbe funded in a variety of ways. The final details of the funding strategy will\nbe hammered out at a later date as over $14 million of the funding is subject\nto grant approval by the Federal Government, but, as The Auroran reported last\nweek, plans include a draw from reserve accounts, a $3.5 million draw from the\nTown\u2019s Hydro Reserves, and a one-time tax increase of one per cent that could\nbe phased in over three years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy problem is\nmultifold, but my number one issue is the funding model,\u201d said Councillor\nGallo, stating he was a huge proponent of the arts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Councillor Gallo\nproposed a slight delay in approving the project until Aurora heard back from\nthe Federal Government on how much money, if any, they would be receiving from\nthe Canada Cultural Spaces grant program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said he was\n\u201cjaded\u201d on going forward with the funding model at this point after what he\ndescribed as the \u201cJoint Operations Centre fiasco\u201d which saw numerous budget\noverruns and issues as the build continued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat is not an\nunderstatement,\u201d he said. \u201cI went through it from the beginning and while I\ndon\u2019t want to say this is the same process, my guard is up because I do not\nwant that to happen again \u2013 and I don\u2019t think anyone wants that to happen\nagain. To me, approving this without a solid funding plan is moving forward\ndown that road, unfortunately.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Similar concerns\nwere offered by Councillor Gaertner. While she said the Library Square\nredevelopment was \u201ca very exciting opportunity\u201d for Aurora and a \u201clong time\ncoming\u201d there were still details to be considered. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She said she was\nheartened by comments delivered by planners at last week\u2019s meeting addressing\nthe issue of underground water on the site, as well as components of the\nbuilding that will have a positive impact on the environment, but parking was\nstill an outstanding concern that had to be tackled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think the\ntaxpayers need to know there is going to be a one-time tax levy increase of one\nper cent [and it] looks like nobody has voted on or discussed it,\u201d she said.\n\u201cIt is going to cost the taxpayers more money, and hopefully they believe it\nwill be a valuable tax increase, but I don\u2019t think we can be silent on the fact\nwe\u2019re doing that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, for other\nCouncil members, there were more positives than negatives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Councillor Sandra\nHumfryes, for instance, said there is a \u201csolid business plan\u201d on Library Square\nthat underscores the \u201cpotential\u201d of what it will bring to Aurora and what the\nTown needs to do to make the venture completely successful. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is what we\nhave been talking about year after year, how to truly revitalize our downtown\ncore,\u201d she said. \u201cIt has been a constant discussion and thought process, many\nconsultations over the years, and it is time to do something. This is probably\nour last chance. If we don\u2019t, then we might as well change the vision of\ndowntown. We have gone so far, we have to continue to move forward and we have\nto be the one leading it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have public\ninput, we have heard the concerns on parking, soil, [and] water, but we have the\nright people in place to address those issues as we go along. I think it can be\nconstantly looked at and constantly improved so it truly becomes something\nwe\u2019re all very proud of.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The history of how\nlong it has taken Council to get to this point was a continual theme in Council\nmembers\u2019 remarks in favour of moving forward. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Councillor Harold\nKim, for instance, said the \u201ctide has turned.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSome believe that\none should not embark on a new strategy, a new build or an endeavour unless\nconditions are perfect and\u2026rarely are conditions perfect,\u201d he said. \u201cGiven\nthis, there is always room for those who are fearful or trepidatious. I\nunderstand with a project of this scale, it can seem daunting. Consequently,\nthere will always be those who are critical from conception to completion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt seems, to some,\nrisk management is defined as avoiding risk all together as opposed to taking\nthe right risk. I believe this is the right risk.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It has been a \u201clong\nroad,\u201d said Councillor Michael Thompson, and a \u201cbit of a marathon with lots of\nsteps to go away.\u201d While Thursday\u2019s approval is a step in the right direction,\nhe noted there will be further steps along the way to guide the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhile progressing\ntonight, there are still other checkpoints as we go along,\u201d he said. \u201cKeep in\nmind as we are making our decisions this evening there are still, as per the\nproject schedule, two points this year whereby reports will come back to this\nCouncil and this Council will make a decision on whether or not to continue to\nproceed or not. Those that have concerns, those who may want to see other\nelements, there will be other opportunities along the way this year for you to\nmake sure they have been addressed before we proceed to the next phase.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Added Councillor\nRachel Gilliland: \u201cI was really shocked to hear that 93 meetings later since\n2015 we finally made it here. I am so excited, I know the community is so\nexcited, there are a lot of people who just can\u2019t wait for the shovel to hit\nthe ground. It\u2019s still a long ways to go by the time we get to completion and I\nknow we\u2019ve got some more work to do, but I am so proud of all the hard work\nstaff [and consultants] have done. We\u2019re on our way to revitalizing the\ndowntown core. We\u2019re on our way and it is about time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOnce we move ahead with this,\u201d concluded Mayor\nMrakas, \u201cI think you will see the floodgates open as far as businesses and\npeople looking to invest and our downtown core will return to its past glory.\u201d<\/p>\n\r\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Brock Weir It is billed as a downtown revitalization project that will see positive dividends for generations to come, and when Council sat down last Thursday to formally approve the estimated $38.2 million redevelopment of Library Square last week, proponents hailed it as a \u201chistoric moment\u201d for Aurora. Council, at a Special Council meeting […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":23360,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23371","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general_news","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/2019-03-25-07.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-64X","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-15 08:28:27","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23371","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23371"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23371\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23360"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23371"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23371"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23371"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}