Collingwood council is upping the ante when it comes to making an informed decision on the future of a famous local landmark.
On Wednesday night, council voted to spend $30,000 to look into the future of the Collingwood Grain Terminals.
Broken down, $10,000 will be spent to have a diver or drone inspect the 4,000 wood piles underwater that make up the foundation of the building. Council also voted unanimously in favour of undertaking a public consultation process on the future of the terminals, and, in particular, a white paper prepared by staff on the status of the building and future possibilities. A consultant will be brought on to facilitate this process, at a cost of $20,000.
“While council is deeply interested in the community’s input, the decision will be based on council members’ judgments on the best approach that will support the interests of the town, not necessarily on the number of comments on a topic,” reads the draft white paper. “Council members may attend engagement session(s) and summaries of sessions and all other input will be publicly communicated.”
The Collingwood grain elevator and silos building was constructed in 1929 over nine months and include a wood pile foundation, a concrete raft slab and 52 concrete silos rising approximately 100 feet above the base.
The building operated until 1993 and the Town of Collingwood purchased the site in 1997.
On Oct. 31, the future of the terminals was discussed at the strategic initiatives committee meeting where many residents came forward to voice their concerns. To read our story about that meeting, click here.
While a date has not yet been set for the public consultation sessions, there is a target to have a council decision on next steps in the road map to a decision before Dec. 31, according to the white paper.
- with files from Erika Engel
