In limbo

Fate of historic Picton Town Hall still in question

The future of Picton Town Hall was back in the spotlight last week. At Thursday’s Committee of the Whole Meeting, Prince Edward County council was presented with two proposals for future use of the building.

Michael Hymus, of Hymus Holdings Inc., has a vision for the property to be turned into accommodation. Hymus’s proposal would see the property sold to his company, Hymus Holdings Inc, for $525,000, plus a $250,000 funding donation to the Picton Library expansion project. He would then turn the building into a 50-unit, pod-style hotel, with rates in the $40 per night range. The proposal also highlighted outdoor space that could be utilized for parkettes, and possibly an outdoor ice rink.

The second proposal, which is also the preferred proposal by County staff, was submitted by the Save Picton Town Hall Working Group, and is called A Hall for All. It would see the hall maintain municipal ownership and the group operate the facility through a Board of Management. The upper floor would continue to operate as a town hall space while the lower level could be leased as office or retail space including an anchor tenant. The group would access grants, tenant contributions and/or other funding for proposed leasehold improvements. Full annual operating costs will also be taken on by the group, with recovery of approximately $55,000 within two to three years.

The County’s Community Development Department recommended that council select the submission from Save Picton Town Hall Group in their report, stating it has “the potential to reduce operating costs of the facility for the municipality while allowing for activities that support numerous strategic priorities of Council, including seniors needs, education, agriculture, cultural heritage, residents’ sense of belonging, and support for the arts and local business startups.”

One comment circulating around the horseshoe was that the property is grossly undervalued. Councillor Bill McMahon wanted to know if there was a more recent market analysis that had been done on the property. Neil Carbone, Director of Community Development and Strategic Initiatives, explained that there hadn’t been one in the past two years. “There was a figure closer to the $750,000 range, that was an updated opinion of value, and I think that was still 2016 or 2017,” said Carbone.

Councillor Bill Roberts stated that he believed the past council was “allergic to controversy”, and passed the issue forward, leaving the current council between a rock and a hard place. “I was on a previous council, and I don’t think the previous council did this council any favours. I think the past council made a mistake by not doing the heavy work, the hard work of deciding exactly what we want to accomplish with Picton Town Hall and issuing a request for proposals based around what in our judgement, in our belief should be fulfilled,” said Roberts.

Councillor Phil St. Jean agreed. “ I believe the ball was dropped by previous council. They didn’t go far enough to remedy what they should have seen was a situation that was going to cause a lot of strife in our community.”

Support for a sale of the town hall seemed strong in the start. Jamie Forrester wanted to make a decision that was best for the financial viability of the County. “I’m not going to be speaking from my heart here, because sometimes there are business decisions that have to be made in the County,” said Forrester. “I look over the last nine years, when the Wellington arena came in, cost savings we were going to have, and we are still sitting on that property. Little corner store in Wellington. We looked at a $600,000 project six years ago and here we are today looking at a two point something million project. Still sitting on it. We sat here and debated the fire halls for months. Looked at numerous staff reports. One of the justifications at that time was to sell off the fire hall.”

Janice Maynard agreed, citing how residents are still coming to grips with a hefty tax increase passed earlier this year. “We had a tax increase before assessment growth of over 8 per cent this year so we are going to be faced with some really difficult decisions. We barely made a dent. So if next year it is 10, 12, 15 per cent, we will come to a point where we will have to ask all people what services, what niceties are you willing to give up.”

Some councillors believed that with the Picton library expansion project moving at full speed, some compromises needed to be made. “The dilemma is that this proposal for a community hub is in conflict or in competition with the library, which also wants to be a community hub. This is where I think as a council we will have to make the hard decision as to which of these can we really afford to get behind financially,” said councillor Mike Harper. “We can’t do both. We can’t have all the things we want. We don’t have the tax base for it.”

Maynard also believes there are other buildings in Picton for community groups to find a home. “I struggle with the fact that in the town there is lots of public meeting spaces. They are not all conducive to all uses at all times. So if the arena hall is underutilized and if we have meeting space proposed in the new library, and we try and keep this one, that’s just not reasonable.”

Councillor Kate MacNaughton was quick to point out that there aren’t any comparable rental spaces left in Picton, after the Lipson Room, above Books & Company was sold and converted into Airbnb rentals. She also wanted to make it clear that the Library and the Town Hall are not one and the same. “They are not the same thing. They are not the same catchment. They do not have the same purposes. They do not fill the same role in our community.”

After a lengthy discussion, which lasted over two hours, Councillor Bill Roberts tabled a motion to defer the issue another six to eight months, which would allow staff, and council, time to decide what they want to see done with the building, and Roberts suggested that a public, private partnership, or P3 project, would be an attractive option. Councillor Ernie Margetson agreed. “I support the public use contintuing on for the second floor. My perfect scenario is that the anchor tenant in the lower floor would be a new owner,” said Margetson. The motion also asks for a new market analysis on the property and an update on capital repairs needed.

Just before the vote was called, councillor Phil Prinzen, who had been listening carefully to the discussions, made his first comment. “This has probably been one of the toughest things on my heart and on my mind. Everybody has driven down the road and seen that squirrel that runs back and forth and just doesn’t know which way to go, and he gets run over every time. And that’s how I feel,” said Prinzen.

The motion will be brought forward at the Tuesday, March 12 council meeting for approval.