I attended the 3 sessions to hear input from the public as to their ideas about how to proceed with the Schomberg Community & Agricultural Arena  (a.k.a. old Schomberg arena).

As one of the general options is to re-purpose the arena, Staff did have the building assessed for current state and estimates done on work required for re-purposing.  Clearly the latter depends on what the end product is to be; hence, estimates were provided for 4 different general possibilities.  Estimates range from $1.1 million to $3.1 million.  And was clearly stated, these costs are in addition to the $1.345 million required for fulfilling the financing strategy for the Trisan Centre.

Other general options include rezoning a portion of the site for different kinds of residential (single detached, townhouses, low rise condominium etc.)  Visuals of these various options were provided.  Note:  in all cases the lands on the east (essentially the current parking area) would be retained by municipality as it is flood plain.

The presentation made at the public meetings is available: follow this link.  Also, if you were not able to attend any of the public meetings you can still provide your feedback by filling out the survey; click here.

With this as background, public provided feedback and presented ideas.   Ideas were documented; once consolidated they will be made available.  As a Council member I expect to receive from Staff a report recommending an option.

I got a couple things out of the meetings.  1^st, there is good opportunity to influence what happens at the site by changing the zoning prior to sale of the property.  And, we can do so with knowledge of the community interest.  2^nd, I got a better understanding of the challenge facing the Schomberg Agricultural Society in terms of executing the annual spring Fair if the Arena and its grounds is not available.  Given that I consider the Fair to be an important both as part of our heritage and a part of our current culture I am concerned that we take this into our thinking.  Status quo is not possible; somehow the change needs to be a catalyst for a productive change for the Fair as opposed to being a trigger for its demise.  3^rd, once again I learned how tough change is when it is not clear what you are changing to.