Richmond Hill
December 04, 2008 11:12 PM
Adam Mc Lean
A wrecking ball will some day level the Lions Hall at the corner of Centre Street East and Pugsley Avenue, sealing its fate and halting the relationship generations of residents have had with the modest building for more than 50 years.
Its fate was sealed at the Richmond Hill Town council meeting on Monday night, as councillors decided in a close vote to declare the Richmond Hill Lions Hall as surplus, at the end of its life cycle, and fit only for demolition.
Public usage of the hall was discontinued by the Town of Richmond Hill in September, 2007, when councillors decided the hall had reached the ‘end of its economic useful life as a municipal facility’ due to a ‘critical’ Facility Condition Index.
This index rating system benchmarks the condition of Town assets, measuring the impacts of funding levels, while indicating risks, operations and functionality of each facility.
Recent Town reports and additional consultants’ reports examined limited use of the Lions Hall, maintenance and complete renovation costs, but those proved too pricey and too risky for the Town to explore, councillors learned.
In the end, it was decided that the Lions Hall should be demolished at an estimated cost of $700,000, funded from the Infrastructure Repair Replacement Reserve Fund.
The land where the Hall stands now will become part of the Downtown Master Plan to determine the future growth of the Yonge Street corridor.
A decision on the controversial issue had been deferred by councillors on two previous occasions and the future of the building has been in limbo since being decommissioned in 2007. Many residents were in attendance at the meeting, eager for an ultimate decision, one way or another.
Before the motion for demolition was passed, residents were given the opportunity to address council and many Lions Club members and non-members did so, quite eloquently.
“If the hall could speak, it would say loud and clear, ‘I am built for the community, by the community’,” said longtime Lions member Grant Marshall.
“That is what we are, we are the community and it would be a shame to turn that in to grass and sod,” Mr. Marshall added.
Mr. Marshall then pointed a finger square at Mayor Dave Barrow and spoke to him about the significance of the chain Mayor Barrow wears around his neck.
“Lo and behold, that very chain of office you wear around your neck was donated as a gift from the Lions Hall many years ago. Collectively, we need an answer to this question tonight and I hope you will justify an expenditure no doubt, but one that is necessary,” Mr. Marshall added.
And though the decision was made, it was not a popular decision with all those in the audience, and it was a closely contested decision, as well.
Before the vote for demolition, Ward 2 Councillor Arnie Warner, where the Lions Hall is located, recommended a motion with two options for the fate of the Lions Hall, aside from the Town’s initial recommendation.
He proposed options of a complete gutting or renovation of the existing building, or tearing down the site, but building a new building with an identical footprint of size and specifications at the same location.
Councillor Warner lost his motion by a single vote, with fellow councillors suggesting that if a facility is going to be rebuilt, it has to be of greater size, accommodate more patrons and offer additional amenities, similar to the Town’s many modern community centres.
“The unfortunate reality of this job is sometimes you have to break hearts,” Councillor Warner said after the decision. “It is the end of an era that I felt I did my best to preserve, but the unfortunate aspect of this is, we haven’t offered this area of town an alternative,” he said following the vote.
“Yes, that land becomes part of the Master Plan, but my concern is that some kind of replacement facility won’t get built, realistically until 2015,” Councillor Warner added.
“The last thing we as council wants to do is turn the community against us. I have many personal memories attached to the hall myself, but I didn’t want to make things personal and I felt that this issue ended with dignity,” Councillor Warner added.
Mention of a new building to be built as a part of the Master Plan, drew a cry of “We will all be dead by then,” from the crowd of Lions Club members in attendance, followed by a near-unison reply: “We certainly hope that is not the case,” from councillors.
Current Lions Club president Allan Betts was discouraged by the decision, but happy one had finally been made.
“We have been waiting to hear a decision for a long time so that we could move on as to what we will do for the future,” Mr. Betts said.
“We would have loved to retain the building, but finally we have some closure on this issue and we appreciate that Councillor Warner tried to help us,” he added.
Others in attendance were not as calm and accepting as Mr. Betts.
“Childish pettiness is causing this decision and the other councillors know nothing about that neighbourhood,” Shirley Austerberry fumed outside the meeting.
“I am not even a Lions member, but that Hall was important to the community and now we are left with nothing”.
All community clubs who used the Lions Hall previously have been accommodated at various alternative Town sites since 2007.
A date for demolition has yet to be scheduled.