The Wiarton Propeller Club has donated its Meeting Place building to be demolished, and its land to be used for affordable housing.
Representatives from the Town of South Bruce Peninsula and the Propeller Club made the announcement on Tuesday, (Sept 13).
A release from the Town says the building and land will be donated to the Town, which will issue a request for proposals to seek developers who want to build an affordable housing project in Wiarton.
Mayor Janice Jackson says, rising costs to operate the building, a decline in rental revenue and a lack of volunteers led the Propeller Club Board of Directors to make the decision to no longer operate the facility.
“I’m just so incredibly proud of them for making that decision. It must have been a very difficult one, but at the same time, they said it was quite an easy decision to make, because they care very deeply about our community,” says Jackson.
She says, “With a lack of attainable housing in our area, this gift from the Propeller Club Board of Directors gives the Town a rare and unique opportunity to steer a critical housing project in support of our residents who are in great need of accommodation they can afford.”
The Town says, although Bruce County Housing Services manages the administration and directly provides housing supports and services in Bruce County, in this particular case, the municipality will lead the project in the community, which will then be operated by the developer.
Jackson says, “When the decision was made that they wanted to turn that into affordable housing, that’s when we got legal advice from our legal team and the Propeller Club as well. So we did have a series of meetings with them in closed session, just to hammer out those details and really talk about the legal advice that we got moving forward.”
“The first thing we have to do is get an appraisal on the property and then we’ll put out a request for proposals, and put this out to developers across the province and see who has interest in the building and the property and then we’ll take it from there. If we have several developers that are interested in it, then the Town representatives along with the propeller club board will sit down and vet the proposals.”
Jackson says, the Propeller Club itself will continue to exist and South Bruce Peninsula is allowing the club to use its facilities free of rental fees for the next five years.
“If the Town Hub comes to fruition, that’s a great place to look for a new propeller club home as well,” says Jackson.
The Town has been going through the planning process for an eventual new town hall and community hub to be built.