Prince Edward County has nominated two councillors to the Wellington Town Hall Expression of Interest Working Group and expanded the working group with a decision made during Tuesday’s session of council.
During the council meeting, councillors Corey Engelsdorfer and Chris Braney were appointed to the working group, and the motion was amended to also include two residents. The other seats include the Director of Recreation and Community Facilities and a member of staff from the Development Services Department.
Wellington Town Hall had been previously highlighted as one of the municipality’s most expensive properties to maintain, and the working group was established to determine the building’s future.
Staff had previously recommended selling off the property due to the ongoing expenses to maintain it and update it to comply with modern accessibility standards.
During the meeting, Councillor Janice Maynard put forward an amendment to pause the expression of interest process, seeking more information about the property’s condition and potential uses. This amendment was defeated after debate by councillors.
Councillor Phil St-Jean was supportive of continuing the Expression of Interest process and said that looking for expressions of interest doesn’t mean the property will be sold.
“I think this is the right process,” said Councillor St-Jean. “We’re asking the people, the members of the public, asking for their ideas, that’s what an EMI essentially is. What is your idea for repurposing in this case, a town hall?”
Wellington Town Hall has yet to be declared surplus to the municipality’s needs, which would need to be done before any possible future sale. The property is also designated as a heritage site.
The municipality had been previously renting the building for public use and it was also used recently for office space.
