Benson Hall

Future use of heritage building up for debate

The future use of Benson Hall in Picton will be up for debate come budget time. The Benson property was formerly the Barker house that was located on Main Street and was moved in the late 1890s for the building of the Post Office. The relocated house and property at 56 King Street, Picton were donated to the Town of Picton in 1945 by W.H. Benson for public use. In the 1950s it was used as overflow by the school board. In 1998, operation of the Prince Edward Corrections Advisory Board was located at the Hall along with municipal office space, and in 2009 the Kinsmen Club of Picton relocated to Benson Hall when their previous broadcast space to host weekly TV BINGO was closed.

At last Thursday’s Committee of the Whole meeting, council debated how the municipally owned heritage building, which is currently closed due to building and fire code deficiencies, should be used in the future. Since 2013, the Kinsmen Club of Picton has been leasing Benson Hall. Its lease expired at the end of 2022. In preparation for a lease renewal, the County had inspections of the building completed, which revealed several fire and building code violations and the building was ordered closed until the deficiencies are addressed.

Some of the defects observed were inadequate supports under support columns, compromised and deteriorated wood support beams and inadequate connections for beam-to-post connections. On the exterior of the building structural support members are showing signs of rot and decay, and new support columns will need to be designed. The cost of the necessary repairs and upgrades is estimated at $489,500. The Kinsmen Club sent a letter to the County stating the volunteer group would like to continue to use the facility as they have spent money on maintenance and upgrades to the building over the years and would continue to do so as part of any lease agreement.

A staff report contained a proposal to approve inkind use of community spaces for the Kinsmen until Benson Hall can be repaired and a new lease signed, and that a capital project to repair the building be added to the 2024 budget deliberations.

Director of Recreation and Community Facilities Lisa Lindsay told council that the County has started looking at the condition of its buildings. “There has been an immense lack of investment in our resources over the years. We are trying to get the full report card in detail on what is going on with each building. Most of our heritage assets have gone more than 20 years from having complete mechanical and structural evaluations done. It is unfortunately a grim situation with all of the buildings,” she said.

Councillor Roy Pennell questioned whether the County should be investing any money at all in the building. “Realistically, should we be putting money into Benson Hall, versus selling it or leasing it, and looking at other ways groups can be accommodated.” Pennell went onto say that Wellington and Picton Community Centres seem to be underutilized.

Lindsay believed that the arrangement of the property would make it a hard sell. “The front yard is a recreation court, and the backyard is Benson Park. We also have our public washrooms attached to the back of the building. I don’t think we could consider the sale of the building for those reasons,” she said.

CAO Marcia Wallace noted that if the building was retained for public use, it could ultimately be more expensive. “We did include an alternative option in this report, to reduce our dependency on leased space on Main Street, which would have an operational year-over-year savings, and instead move staff into this building. If we do anything that allows this to be used by the public or other groups as a rental facility, we don’t make very much money in that context, and it would require increased investment,” she said.

Wallace also echoed Lindsay’s comments. “There is a tremendous deficit in what should have been invested in our buildings.”

Councillor Phil Prinzen tabled a motion that would see a report come back on moving staff into the building. “Is it practical as a municipality when we can save lease money and move at a lower investment cost?” he asked.

Council passed the amending motion approving the use of in-kind space for the Kinsmen Club through the end of 2024 and directed staff to explore a repurpose of Benson Hall to include municipal office use as part of the 2024 budget deliberations.