PRESS RELEASES
Budd Ave. Site Chosen for ‘Fast Tracked’ Civic Center - Posted on 2009-02-19
The Charlotte County Civic Centre project is on the fast track.
“Originally it was thought that construction on the project might not begin for four years but, with federal and provincial economic stimulus being put in place, it became clear to us that the time to move is now,” said Richard Fulton, president of the CCCC board of directors.
Fulton said “the federal and provincial infrastructure money that is available now is going to be spent somewhere with the intention of creating jobs and stimulating the economy as soon as possible. By being a project where shovels can be in the ground this year, we greatly increased our ability to access funding.”
“Also,” he said, “if all the infrastructure money is spent as planned in the next two years, it may be that there would then be a pull-back of both levels of government and money would not have been available in four years when we originally planned to build.”
A decision on where the civic center will be located has also contributed to the fast tracking of the project.
“We are very pleased to announce that we have selected Budd Avenue as the site for our civic center,” said Fulton. “This site has long been favored by the town and the board.”
Its’ attractiveness increased when the Garcelon family made the offer of a very significant financial contribution connected to this site.
Mayor Jed Purcell is very pleased with the site decision.
“This initiative represents a remarkable lynchpin for the town’s commitment of downtown redevelopment as already evidenced by its’ move to Ganong Place and its’ ongoing municipal planning,” he said. “Proof of will be the adoption of a formal resolution on February 23rd to acquire the property.”
Though the Garcelon donation figured in the decision, chair of the CCCC board site selection committee Bob Coates says they have been working on the pluses and minuses of various sites and are confident that this is the right location for the center.
“After extensive analysis of several possible sites our committee feels we have definitely made the right choice.” said Coates. “This site has the most potential for helping to revitalize the downtown and, because we have already completed phase one and phase two engineering studies on it, we could start construction as soon as our funding is in place.”
According to fundraising chair Peter Heelis, the campaign is in the home stretch but the race is not won yet.
“We still need further pledges to reach our goal of $3.5 million dollars,” he said. “This is the time for everyone who hasn’t yet demonstrated their support with a donation or pledge to step forward and help us make it to the finish line.”
Fulton stated that the board has also been working hard on a number of fronts including taking the project, with its’ fast track timing, to appropriate representatives of all levels of government.
“In every case,” he said, “we have been very favorably received. I have every confidence that we will be able to put this all together and possibly even have shovels in the ground this summer. We are very excited about that possibility.”
WHY BUDD AVENUE?
• Meets criteria of being within town boundaries
• Provides cornerstone for downtown revitalization
• Close to Town Square, VIC, Library, Chocolate Museum
• Provides opportunity for waterfront development and public access to waterfront
• Easily tied to walking trails and within walking distance for many
• Parking available onsite and in downtown and waterfront lots
• Good access via King St., Milltown Blvd., Old Bay Road
• Comes with major pledges of support from several donors
• Existing water and sewer will reduce servicing cost significantly
• Only site that is ‘shovel ready’ which maximized opportunity for securing infrastructure funding now available but unlikely to be available later