Chatham-Kent’s mayor is touting the proposed redevelopment of the Downtown Chatham Centre as a boon for not just Chatham’s downtown core, but communities across Chatham-Kent.
Darrin Canniff says one of the biggest parts of any major development is resident attraction and retention.
“We are competing with municipalities right across the province for people, and some of our facilities are certainly lacking,” Canniff says. “Downtown facilities will expand, but you’re going to start having people come to the community because of this. We haven’t invested in much of anything in Chatham-Kent in the last 10 or 15 years in terms of facilities like this.”
Over the next few months, municipal administration and the local investors group that owns the mall will be putting together an extensive cost analysis including the development itself and the potential sale price for surplus buildings like the Civic Centre, library, and Cultural Centre.
Canniff says the revitalization of the Downtown Chatham Centre wouldn’t just benefit residents in Chatham, it sets a precedent for the entire municipality.
“We hired KPMG to come look at the efficiency of our municipality, they said you’ve got too many older buildings, you need to consolidate. So I see this as an opportunity not only for downtown Chatham, but as we look at Wallaceburg, Dresden, we look in other communities, how can we consolidate some buildings but improve service, not take away services but improve them.”
For the next few weeks, local residents are invited to have their say on the proposed project through the Let’s Talk Chatham-Kent website.
The results from the public consultation process as well as an extensive cost assessment will come back before council at its meeting on August 8th.