St Marys Council Votes $124,000 for Architect

Jennifer Leslie in the Journal Argus reports St Marys Council voted to hire Garwood-Jones and Hanham Architects for $124,000 to design the St Marys Arena Expansion.

Councillor Bill Osborne opposed saying, "I realize the need for such a study but is seems somewhat premature. We haven't a clue if we can get the money."

Osborne reminded council that "the study by the architect doesn't address maintenance and who's going to verify operating costs. That's where the original project ran into problems."

Councillor Bruce Symons also opposed the move backing up Osborne up with, "I don't feel we're at the point we can fit $124,000 into our budget."

Councillor Gerry Teahen supported hiring the architect. Teahen said the architect's design was needed in order to get provincial funding, "we can't submit something to the Ministry without the drawings. Until we get that back we can't move any further ahead on this."

Councillor Dave Cunningham voting for the motion said, "This will finally help us determine if we can afford this project."

June 28 St Marys Council generally agreed that the $15 to $16 million cost calculated in the Monteith Brown study made the Living Life Project Too Costly