Amherstburg's town hall could be moving. Here's one developer's pitch
A local developer is pitching Amherstburg council on moving the area's town hall into an old school.
Two years after General Amherst High School closed its doors, developer Peter Valente is suggesting that the town move their administrative offices into the facility. Valente's company bought the high school after the public school board put it up for sale late last year.
Valente will make his formal proposal tonight at Amherstburg's town council meeting. On Monday, he spoke with CBC's Windsor Morning about the idea.
"Our proposal is to keep parts of the school, like the historical facade," said Valente.
"The portion of the school that is facing the park, that's the original facade of the school that would potentially become Amherstburg's new town hall."
LISTEN: Developer, Amherstburg mayor speak with CBC's Windsor Morning
But Valente sees the property as holding more than just the town hall. Though he's not sharing his full plans just yet, he says he sees the space as also having residential and commercial uses.
Amherstburg mayor Michael Prue says the town will be required to make their current space accessible by 2030. Currently, the town hall is located at 271 Sandwich Street.
"It would be a daunting task to make it accessible ... there's no elevators, there's no ramp," he said.
"It's just not doable, so we're looking for a new space and we're looking at a possible build and then this idea came along, so we're very happy to look at it."
This is part of the plan that the developer is proposing at Monday's Amherstburg town council. (Valente Development Corporation)
He added that their current town hall doesn't have up-to-date technology and is also too small.
"Our staff is spread out all around the town, we would like to get a lot more synergy by having them together. The council chamber is too small for most of the meetings we have, which are usually overflowing," he said.
According to Prue, council is waiting to hear from Valente tonight regarding what this would cost. But he says he knows they have three options available: lease the space, lease to own the space or buy it outright.
After looking at the numbers tonight, Prue says council will decide on what works best.
The report headed to council notes that Valente wants to begin construction on the site in 2026 and is hoping town council makes a decision by this November.
