A new city hall is needed

Windsor is going to be building a new city hall at the cost of $34 million, but is it money well spent?

The needs in Windsor consist of road repair, improving the downtown sector and addressing annual flooding and jobs. Although they all have importance, we believe the city is getting a bargain on the new building.

The infrastructure deficit in the City of Windsor is noticeable just by driving down the street. Potholes, run-down areas and old sewer and water systems are found throughout the city. The deficit in numbers is close to $1 billion, according to a report published by the city. In the same report, the estimated cost to actually replace that infrastructure is $5.2 billion as of 2013.

Every summer when the rain hits, locations in central and south Windsor frequently flood. Some residents have had their basements flood numerous times. Families have been known to cancel vacations so they can guard their homes against potential flooding. The city has embarked on a long-term plan to correct the issue. The current budget for this is $4.61 million to address wet basements and bad drainage.

The current unemployment rate in the Windsor area is 8.8 per cent according to Statistics Canada. Some would argue, like Sutherland Global Services, that a regional transportation system would go a long way to achieving a lower rate.

But despite all of these issues that plague the city, if you compare what we want to do with the new city hall to other cities, we’re still getting a deal.

According to the 2015 city budget, the $34 million allotted to the construction of the new city hall includes such costs as demolitions ($2.65 million), parking ($420,000) and a contingency fund of $3 million. Those are just the largest on the list of miscellaneous costs. The construction costs themselves are $23.1 million.

The reality is that cities of our size in Ontario have not built a new city hall structure in many years. Two examples of previous rebuilds and renovations can be found in the municipalities of the City of Kitchener and the City of Hamilton.

In 1993, the City of Kitchener chose to build a new city hall at 200 King St. W. The square footage for the building is only 10,000 more than the current proposal for the new building in Windsor. At 120,000 sq. ft., the cost for the building in 1993 was $43.4 million. Today that cost would be $63.4 million.

If you wanted to rebuild or renovate the building at 350 City Hall Square W., the costs could be prohibitive. The City of Hamilton in 2010 chose to retrofit their current city hall at a cost of more than $55 million. Today’s cost would be $59.3 million.

The current location of 350 City Hall Square W. was Central Public School prior to 1904. Constructed in 1956, the current structure was built during a postwar Windsor. With a booming economy, thanks to an investment in the growing auto industry, the city decided to spend $2.1 million to build it. It functioned as the only city hall building until 2005 when the building at 400 City Hall Square E. was constructed. If you were to look at the cost of construction today for the original city hall, that cost would come to around $18 million.

Consider the numbers: $63.4 million, $59.3 million… $34 million. Despite the major issues that we face as a city and a region, the fact of the matter is we could be spending almost double the amount. It may look like a shoe-box, it may not have all the bells and whistles but at $34 million it is a steal. It suits the city and its current financial situation and will allow more room in the future to attack other pressing issues.