16 councillors and a number of city managers were sat around the horseshoe-shaped council chamber table last night. The room was filled, nearly to capacity, with citizens. Many, around 25 or so, had come to make deputations–to have their voices heard regarding the HUB proposal.

The HUB Proposal was born after an investment group purchased the mall a few years ago. The big boxlike structure at the end used to house a Sears Department Store. For its new life, some envision a beautiful building that houses city workers, provides services for the citizens and incorporates the Library and Museum. 

The debate centres around whether this is needed. The current Civic Centre is in need of refurbishment. The city says that will cost around $37,000,000. But if the HUB proposal were to go forward, that could be done for about $53,000,000 or so. There are pros and cons to each proposal and, with a huge price tag, there are legitimate questions about needs versus wants. 

Which is why so many people had come to speak this evening. Everyone could have chosen to be somewhere else, yet they felt strongly enough to pass on enjoying the unseasonably pleasant weather and spend it in Council Chambers.  

Each deputation is normally allotted 5 minutes. Tonight, however, because of the number of speakers, this time was cut in half. This two-and-a-half-minute time frame seemed to catch many of those speakers off guard, which didn’t help the mood in the room. All of them had a lot to say, and many of them were angry. 

As they approached the microphone, some had written statements, while others spoke off the cuff. They had varied concerns, but mostly it came down to money. Could this money be better spent elsewhere? Could this money be spent in the outlying communities? Is this really all the money that would be spent? 

People opposed to the Hub Project outnumbered those in favour by nearly 3 to 1. And, in a break from protocol, a sizeable portion of the gallery who were not going to speak broke into boisterous applause at the end of each deputation in opposition. 

But it is clear now that, for the citizens of Chatham-Kent, their luck has run out of the horseshoe. 

After listening thoughtfully to the speakers, Council voted 11-5 to spend another $2,000,000 to advance to the next stage of this project. 

This was an interesting action. Particularly in light of the fact that there is no clear-cut consensus in the community that this project is right for Chatham-Kent. The municipality has done the research, releasing a 1,000+ page report. A significant part of this document is dedicated to finding out what the people think.

An excellent article by Karen Robinet appeared in Chatham-Kent This Week. She found that 48% of respondents stated: “I do not have a need for these new spaces/community amenities, and do not support these for the benefit of our community.”  In contrast, 15% said they would use them. 

Add to this the fact that no one can get an accounting of how any of the estimates were added up. Citizens have submitted Freedom of Information Requests that get slow-walked. Councillors have asked, too. In the end, the only thing that the city will tell anyone is what the top-line numbers are, and some of them don’t really make sense. 

Take, for example, the renovation of the Civic Centre. Somewhere around $10,000,000 of the $37,000,000 is the cost to move council chambers from the second floor to the ground floor. 

This doesn’t seem reasonable when you compare it to the estimated costs of building a brand-new fire hall. That’s only about $12,000,000. Would simply gutting a floor and rebuilding a big room on the ground really be as much as a brand-new fire hall?

Why would Chatham need a new fire hall, though?  Why is that estimate at the ready? It turns out that if they build the HUB project, then they need to build a new fire hall, too. That expense is not part of the $50,000,000. Funny, isn’t it, that’s not the part they say very loud. 

For sure, there are real benefits that would come out of the HUB. It would consolidate spaces, provide more square footage for the library and museum, and would be a brand-new and incredibly attractive building to anchor downtown. 

There are claims that this will help revitalize the core of the city and bring in new business. It’s possible, but there is no way to know. 

Some of the loudest supporters of the project are the developers who own the mall. They have also been talking about the Civic Centre and library’s real estate as a prime location for development. It sounds like those locations would make great condos or hotels. 

In the end, we have had town hall meetings, giant reports, and deputations. None of which have shown a clear consensus to move forward with this huge project. 

Chatham-Kent’s citizens are not left in a good place. The seemingly calculated lack of transparency by the administration is concerning. The lack of Council’s ability or desire to pry information from the administration is alarming. Finally, the lack of care that a majority of the councillors demonstrate regarding the sentiment of a huge portion of CK citizens is damning. 

Then again, the people of Chatham-Kent are used to that, right?