Fire may spell opportunity for Paradise Town Hall
By Mark Squibb
A decision to take advantage of the rebuilding of the Paradise Town Hall to incorporate additional renovations will require a heavy upfront cost, council has learned.
The building and adjacent depot were damaged by a fire last February and have been closed since.
“When the Town receives a final scope of work and construction cost estimate to return the building to pre-fire condition, the Town will have a short window of time to decide whether to proceed with construction and return the building to pre-fire conditions, or take advantage of the demolition and removal of materials due to fire and smoke damage to redevelop the space,” explained councillor Tommy Maher during last week’s public committee meeting.
Maher said that, should the Town decide to use the opportunity to redesign the Town Hall, there will need to be electrical and mechanical engineering designs done ahead of time, to the tune of about $86,250, HST included.
“If we are not ready to make the decision on the best way forward when the insurance company is ready for us to move forward, we anticipate pressure from the insurance company to decide quickly,” said Maher.
The depot, said Maher, is being considered separately from the Town Hall.
CAO Lisa Niblock said the studies are necessary for council to make a decision and that the cost of additional changes would have to be borne by the Town
“What insurance is doing is giving us a price to get the Town Hall back exactly as it is right now,” said Niblock. “In conversations with council, we agreed that now is the time to make some changes and renovations to the Town Hall and leave possible room for a tenant at Town Hall if that’s the route that council wants to go. We won’t be able to present anything to council without this information.”
The cost of the upgrades, said Niblock, could in part be covered by insurance.
Should council decide it wants the building restored exactly how it was, without any upgrades or renovations, staff would forgo the need for the two studies.
“I think this is actually very important,” said councillor Patrick Martin, adding that he couldn’t see how council can make an informed decision without the information.
Councillor Glen Carew said council recently did a walk-through of the Town Hall and described the building as a “hollow shell.”
Council agreed to move the item to a regular council agenda to be put to a vote at a later time.