Woolwich's $32-million makeover
(By Kevin Swayze, THE RECORD, Monday December 22, 2008)
Woolwich Township Mayor Bill Strauss sits in the council chambers of the township’s new municipal offices.
A new Floradale fire station and an Elmira recreation centre with twin rinks and a pool, set to open in September, are among facilities being built in Woolwich Township.
Woolwich Township staff moved into newly renovated offices in November.
ELMIRA
After years of being crammed in an old post office, township workers are stretching their legs in a big, bright new home.
Floradale firefighters have a big, new station that replaced a substandard shed. There's an elevator in the Elmira library, a new community centre in Maryhill and more changerooms in the St. Jacobs arena.
Work continues on a new recreation complex with a twin-rink and pool in Elmira and work should start in the spring on the first phase of a community centre in Breslau.
Woolwich Township is more than halfway through a three-year, $32-million construction blitz. So far, officials report projects are coming in at tender costs, with no big surprises uncovered during renovations.
"It's beautiful," Mayor Bill Strauss said as he stood under skylights in the new township hall on Church Street.
On Nov. 15, 35 employees moved from an old red brick landmark on Arthur Street into a $3.8-million home in a renovated credit union.
"For the first time, we finally have room for our employees. I was upset they were in the basement and in cubby holes," Strauss said.
The new building is 21,000 square feet, three times the space in the old building.
There's room to add more staff if needed, Strauss said.
And, for the first time, township offices are fully handicapped accessible.
"It's a building that every township resident can be proud of," Strauss said.
Work on the $23.3-million Woolwich Memorial Centre on the old Elmira fairgrounds started last year and is slightly ahead of schedule. Along with two hockey rinks and an indoor pool, it will have youth, seniors and fitness centres, along with an indoor walking track. It's due to open by September.
The new Floradale fire station cost $1.3 million.
Maryhill's community centre in Heritage Park cost $663,600.
Changeroom expansion at the Woolwich Township arena in St. Jacobs will cost $466,792, and be done by fall.
The elevator in the Elmira library cost $183,750.
Money for the construction blitz came from a variety of sources and will leave the township in debt, said chief administrative officer David Brenneman.
Funding came from money set aside by the township for specific projects, development charges on new construction, fundraising, donations, a partial cashout of the debt the township held as part of its ownership share of Kitchener-Wilmot Hydro (Duke: whoops, I think they meant to say Waterloo North Hydro here...), a $2-million provincial grant (towards the twin rinks) and future sales of surplus township land and buildings.
"Ultimately, we would be looking at a total debt of $2.38 million," Brenneman said.
Before the construction started, Woolwich had no money owing. The construction plans should average out to $186 in debt for each of the township's 21,500 residents.
The new debt is easily manageable, Brenneman said. Getting overdue community projects done gives township council flexibility to deal with rebuilding roads, sewers, watermains and bridges in years to come, he said.
"We certainly didn't mortgage the future away."
http://news.therecord.com/News/Local/article/462283
(Photos from THE RECORD, December 22, 2008 by David Bebee)