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CK Community Hub Project Update

The full Detailed Design Phase report for the Chatham-Kent Community Hub is now available. 

Council will be voting on the project at the next Council meeting on May 12th, which is being held at the Chatham-Kent John D. Bradley Convention Centre. Below is an Executive Summary of the 14-page report, which is available in full at letstalkchatham-kent.ca/community-hub along with the appendices: 


Administration has completed the Detailed Design for the Chatham-Kent Community Hub (CKCH), which reimagines the former Sears building at 100 King Street West as a modern, accessible, and inclusive municipal space. This project consolidates services currently housed in the Civic Centre, Chatham Library branch, and Chatham-Kent Museum into one shared building.


Cost:

The Class 'A' Cost Estimate for the project is $52,883,598 (inclusive of tax after rebate), which remains within the Council-approved $53 million budget. This estimate includes all essential project components, such as building acquisition, construction, consulting services, furnishings, relocations, and contingencies (including contingency for potential tariff impacts).


Cost Comparison (to upgrade existing facilities):
Recognizing that ‘something must be done’ in terms of fixing existing municipal facilities, and in contrast with the CKCH pricing above, a high-level cost comparison reveals that upgrading the current Civic Centre, Chatham Library branch, and Chatham-Kent Museum separately to meet the proposed CKCK standards for accessibility, energy efficiency, modernized infrastructure, and public service delivery, would total over $108 million—more than double the proposed CKCH project cost. Individual costs:
  1. Civic Centre: $54,114,740
  2. Library: $34,744,040
  3. Museum: $19,405,750
This is a total of $108,264,530, meaning upgrading the three existing facilities separately would be $55.26 million more expensive, requiring a larger debenture along with a potential significant property tax impact for Chatham-Kent residents. A detailed breakdown of these figures is provided in the report.


Facility and Accessibility:

Acknowledging our growing population, the CKCH design expands the current 78,160 square feet of municipal space spread over three separate sites to 119,278 square feet of shared space—a 52% increase. The proposed CKCH design emphasizes accessibility, integrating features such as assistive technologies and adaptable spaces to both meet and exceed current AODA standards, ensuring accessibility for all Chatham-Kent residents.

The proposed CKCH design reflects significant community input and consultation with community groups such as the Accessibility Advisory Committee (AAC), the Age-Friendly Committee (AFC), the Museum Advisory Committee and the Chatham-Kent Public Library Board, supporting a facility that is accessible, age-friendly and meets the needs of our important community groups.


Funding:

The CKCH is fully funded with no impact to property taxes due to strategic building funding by Council over the past decade as part of the Asset Management Plan funding. Once the CKCH is completed Council will have the opportunity to declare the Library and Civic Centre to be surplus properties with proceeds offsetting some CKCH capital cost, enabling their redevelopment and additions to the downtown area. There also will be naming rights opportunities and potential for donations to the library and museum portions if Council decides to proceed to tender. A debenture will be issued for cash flow purposes at today’s historically low rates as detailed in the funding plan included in the report.


Recommendation:

Administration recommends proceeding to the Construction Procurement Phase, issuing a competitive bid to qualified firms capable of delivering the project within the defined scope, timeline, and budget constraints. Once the successful applicant is identified for the general construction, Administration will be bringing a report to Council for award of the construction contract, in accordance with Purchasing By-Law #205-2023(External link). The timeline for competitive tendering is expected to take the summer with the return to Council at a September meeting.

The CKCH supports a smaller footprint for Civic Centre staff reflecting today's needs, an energy efficient and fully accessible design, co-location of services for residents and new library and museum, all without impacts to property taxes.


This is an important topic in the community and debate and conversation are welcomed, but please keep comments respectful to Councillors, staff, and each other.



Alyssa Huckle
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