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Sweet spot
It was a tortuous path. Pocked with landmines at every turn. So the folks at Shire Hall, led by Neil Carbone and Peter Moyer, are surely breathing considerably easier this week, after bravely and successfully emerging from this overly long ordeal—with a promising future for the convenience store at the corner of Wharf and Main Streets in Wellington.
Like Dorothy and Toto in the land of Oz, the path home was always there, yet it seemed in some dark moments on this winding journey that we might never get back.
Our saga began seven years ago with an inspection of the culvert that traverses Wharf Street just north of Main. That review revealed that the buildings sitting astride the creek on Wellington’s main intersection were in less than ideal condition. Lacking any easement or legal arrangement to manage the risk of a failure of these structures, a plan was hatched in the County Works department to re-route the creek down Wharf Street either directly to the lake or to rejoin the stream past these buildings. But as the costs and questions about these notions rose, County officials returned to the idea of leaving the creek more or less where it is. But to do this, they had to control the property.
So in 2015, they persuaded council to buy both properties—the convenience store and the former pizza shop—for $620,000. A purchase and a price that continues to be hotly debated wherever folks gather for coffee each morning in Wellington.
Project planners wanted the buildings gone, a culvert installed and some grass or a parking lot on top. But many of the folks who live and work in this village rose up in loud and clear protest against the prospect of creating a permanent gap at the main intersection of the village. Some argued for the heritage value of a building that has stood nobly on this corner for 120 years. Others pointed to the loss of retail space and residential apartments in a village that is starving for both.
This set up the mighty clash. On the one side were engineers— both professional and amateur—eager to bring in the demolition crew, folks who could see no value in this tired old building or its purpose on Wellington’s main intersection. Besides, every day lost to the wrecking ball meant the project would likely cost taxpayers more.
On the other side were village residents who articulated their strong desire to see something remain on the corner—either the convenience store refurbished, or a new structure of a similar scale and visually complementary to the streetscape.
A long standoff ensued. More public meetings. In the meantime, the village business association employed the convenience store windows with wayfinding signs and attractive village images. For the pizza shop window, Pamela Carter solicited and coordinated a rotating visual celebration of village organizations and initiatives—recognizing the achievement of such efforts as the Storehouse Foodbank, of the WI and the County archives. Each month she presents a lively and helpful story for passersby at the street corner.
Council, however, grew weary of the delays. With each passing month they took more incoming sniper fire from folks complaining about the empty building and the money taxpayers had laid out to buy it. It became an emblem of council inaction.
Other folks simply lost faith the County could manage the project to a successful conclusion.
Those concerns must now surely be set aside. The preferred option retains the convenience store building, re-routes the creek only modestly and is—significantly—the lowest cost of all the options available. The store building will be lifted, a new foundation poured, and the structure replaced—about a metre north and west. The creek will meander across Wharf just north of its existing path, behind the store, curve gently southward to rejoin the culvert that crosses Main Street. The plan imagines a patio greenspace above the creek where the pizza shop was.
Once the work is done the store building will be severed and sold to a private buyer—though the purchaser will be bound to maintain and protect the structure’s dimensions and historical character.
There are compromises. Some will mourn the loss of the pizza shop. Some will complain about the length of time it has taken to navigate this minefield.
At the end of the day, however, this is a story about using taxpayer dollars well. Respectfully.
The estimated cost of the first plan, that is to re-route the creek down Wharf Street, escalated quickly from $640,000 to $1.7 million by 2013. That was before a single shovel broke pavement at the corner of Wharf and Main. It was clear the final cost would be much higher. But rather than forge ahead bull-headedly, County officials took a step back. They reassessed the options.
They may have come to regret that decision in the years since, but it was the right one. For every taxpayer in this County.
The bottom line is this: had they pushed ahead, you and I would have spent $2 million to fix this creek. The option on the table to day, sees the project completed for under $1 million. That is a win for all of us.
The convenience store building will be restored to grace the village streetscape once again.
This is a success story we can all celebrate.
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