The facts are as follows:
The town paid $2. 3 million dollars for renovations. THe Historical Society spent several hundred thousand dollars before. A team of modern young artchitects designed a state of the art heritage facility . A special fire extinguisher system to protect artifacts was installed.
KAthy Malloy, curator for a very short time, was successful in obtaining $750,000 grant from Heritage Ontario that paid for the heating and a specialty air conditioning system .
Hundreds of volunteer hours were contributed to gut the interior to original walls and ceilings.
Manyattended the school for their entire elementary experience. It was a labour of love.
When it was done the Mormac gang , including John Gallo, took it away from them and gave it to a friend.
Millions of dollars were spent on the building in the years before the final renovation. The bell tower was rebuilt and replaced since. All of it for a single purpose and vision with support from the community.
The Culture crowd were to provide a heritage program .
The building was given to them rent free. Entire maintenance provided by the town in the first year the estimated was $147.000.
The Department of National Defence pays annual rent of $31,000 for a facility having nothing like the public investment. Initial costs have probably not been recovered yet by rent payments.
GIving that building away to Chris Ballard's friends ,led to a cost of $26 million for a new joint facility to house town parks with works.
It's hard to argue the town's interest has been served by any of these machinations by this council and the previous two.
Easy to understand why the culture board is ever willing to deny the obvious.
But the facts are there and irrefutable.
User fees to residents using facilities operated by the town are based on cost of operating the facility.
It includes maintenance. Soccer fields, baseball diamonds, ice arenas, fitness facilities... None are free.
Taxpayers are not expected to lay the cost of operating the facility.
The last comment on this issue is not valid.
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9 comments:
We have been over this so many times. Those currently on Council are aware of the actual figures - most have dealt with enough budgets and listened to the Center's annual self-pat on the back enough times. If they continue to put money into it, there is nothing to prevent them. That place peaked for attendance several years ago and has nowhere to go in order to grow. Bottom line is that if they occupy the building, others cannot.
Hey, I get it;
You don't get it. You don't want to get it. You'll never get it.
You're blinded by bias and bitterness.
The best part is, is that it doesn't matter. No one needs you to get it.
How many businesses in this Town would have jumped at renting that building for 31,000 a year if given the opportunity? Creating jobs in this Town I guess is not a priority.
17:00
You are always going to be remembered as the group that " took " that building.
No amount of smart expensive advertising can disguise the origins of your outfit. I am waiting for someone to produce a potted history that can be challenged. Sort of like the version of Morris' non- defamation suit that was promised.
17:00- You're right. I don't get it. Just like you won't get when the Town pulls the plug. They will discover that its been disguising itself as a centre that is providing a service to Aurorans. One day we'll have a council that has the courage to do the right thing.
18:47
No one "took" the building... when you people realize that this town will be able to move on.
It is 2016, people. All this talk is SO 2012.
It is very relevant today.
They need to be evicted.
9:16 - So we continue to pay hundreds of thousands of $'s each and every year? It wasn't Ok then, and it continues to be not OK now in 2016.
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