Update on the Town of Winterton’s Acquisition of the Hindy’s Home Hardware building.
It has been a long time in planning and construction, but the Town Office, Maintenance Dept., Recreation Commission and Fire Department are moved into the new building. The town is planning an open house event soon so we will let everyone know when you can come and see your new building.
The old town hall is being rented to the ambulance service as office space and a bunkhouse. As the ambulance service is 100% provincially funded this is financially the same as having rented the building to any outside party. The maintenance garage on Pinhorn’s Beach, the Recreation Center and the Fire Hall are being sold. All Winterton’s municipal services are now consolidated in the Town of Winterton Municipal Complex.
The acquisition and redevelopment were funded through a series of provincial capital infrastructure projects, Covid stimulus funding, Gas Tax funding and municipal savings/debt. The total project cost was roughly $1.95M including the building purchase of $780,000. The amount invested in the project by the provincial government was over $1M and from the federal government through the gas tax program was $200,000. The town paid approximately $750,000 for its portion (~38% of the total) of the project of which $175,000 came from the sale of 3 of its existing buildings (rec center, fire hall and maintenance garage) and $100,000 came from savings in a capital fund started in anticipation of this project 3 years ago. The remaining $475,000 was borrowed through private bank financing. The town budgeted $40,000/yr for this project and included it in its annual budget 3 years ago so taxes going forward will not change to reflect the cost of this project. The debt service on this loan is roughly $46,000/yr but the other financial changes made through this move including increased rental income and reduced building operating costs mean that the overall increased cost to the town annually is $25,000.
We are very happy to report that the building renovation and consolidation project was very successful, and the town is in an excellent position going forward to look after its interests in a modern and efficient manner.
Some highlights are:
– the fire department now has a large, well equipped and very modern garage.
– the town offices are renovated, accessible and comfortable.
– the works staff depot is onsite and has access to a large yard as well as a much bigger garage.
– the recreation center is onsite and has a bigger space, purpose-built kitchen, bar and storage.
– the whole building is single floor and is accessible without ramps/stairs in recognition of our current needs and the future needs of an aging population.
– it is a green project in that we have repurposed a building that was going to be vacated, we have overall reduced our need for energy by consolidating into one space, we have renovated to include additional insulation and added efficient heat pumps as the primary heat source.
I would like to thank the town staff for their dedication to all stages of the project. Gerry Hynes, our project manager, for his tireless work organizing the renovation. Lawrence Whelan, our provincial government representative for his advice and guidance. Steve Crocker and his staff for their help with acquiring funding and guidance. Paul Hindy for reaching out to us to explore interest in the building. Building committee members Gary Hiscock and Charlie Reid and all councilors for the dedication, time and patience.
Mark Sheppard
Mayor, Town of Winterton