KAGAWONG—Several buildings in Billings township have been identified as being in critical shape and either need work or for them to be replaced. This includes the Billings fire hall and The Spot (91 Main Street).
Cole Howson and Tyler Moody of Tulloch Engineering met with council on Monday to discuss the structural review that has been carried out for buildings and stairs within the township.
“We looked at a total of 19 structures, 17 buildings and two stairs,” Mr. Howson told council. “The purpose of our review was to look at what the needs are for each, their current condition (electrical, structural etc. to keep them operating) and recommendations for facilities going forward for the next 25 years.”
The structural assessment review was carried out last year, said Mr. Howson, who noted a report was done for each individual structure. Each of the individual reports provides a list of whether a building is in good or bad shape and cost estimates for the repairs or replacement of buildings. He noted that under the Accessibility for Ontario Act most communities in the province are trying to make their facilities accessible by 2025.
“The summary report looks at each building, its size and an estimated cost to replace them; which we guesstimate for the 19 in this case would be $13 million dollars,” stated said Mr. Howson. “Then we went through what would be required to maintain or upgrade the buildings, and a ratio of what buildings need upgrades and what buildings are in critical shape.”
“For example, one we deem as being in the most critical shape is the Carter Crescent stairs,” said Mr. Howson. “They are in very poor shape and need to be rebuilt or replaced and the costs for this we estimate at around $500,000. We made a recommendation that they should be taken down and rebuilt, or at least not be publicly accessible.”
It was pointed out by Councillor Sharon Alkenbrach that the Carter Crescent stairs have already been removed.
“In summary, based on the facility ratio-index, basic maintenance can be carried on Bridal Veil Falls (structure) to remain, and the marina building showers at the dock are in fairly good shape,” continued Mr. Howson. He said the storage shed barn at the old public works garage, “does the job, it still holds equipment and other stuff but if you keep operating it you will need to get a structural engineer in to make sure it is a safe building. When I was in there in the summer, I looked at the state of the structure, which has been around a long time. You have to ask whether this building is really needed or if it can be fixed up a bit.”
Other buildings not not termed critical required structures includes the low lift station, and the roof is the only thing that puts in this category at all. “The marina warehouse is in critical shape and the marina docks need a little work in the next few years, and we know council is in the process of looking at a major waterfront project,” said Mr. Howson. He noted the Annex building needs a little work.
“The buildings that are critical, and there are several buildings included in here, mainly because of accessibility, include this building, the Old Mill, the library and the Park Centre,” continued Mr. Howson. “Other critical buildings include the marina showers, and the fire hall which is in very rough shape and needs structural repairs, a new roof soon, the outside walls are in very bad shape and the fire escape needs to be replaced.”
As well, “The Spot at 91 Main Street needs to be worked on. All these buildings fall into the critical need category with work needed to be done on them to keep them going,” said Mr. Howson.
“With respect to energy savings we went through all the facilities and to a large extent they are in good shape, with some just needing a change in lights,” said Mr. Howson. For any buildings on electric heat, it is recommended that they be upgraded to propane, which is cheaper than electricity. “Other than that we don’t have a lot to recommend to save energy, your (township) is already doing quite a bit in this area.”
“When you look at the recommendations made in the report for facilities that are in the critical state, it was suggested that the township may want to amalgamate those or replacing them with a new building makes sense,” stated Mr. Howson. “The fire hall needs to be replaced; it is not large enough and needs a lot of investment made. It would be better off as a new building. It could be considered as one of the buildings amalgamated in one facility.” He said it is not large enough and suggested a future building may provide for more bays and the training area being larger. “You want to look at what you need now and in the future.”
When asked by Billings Mayor Austin Hunt if any of the structures are currently unsafe, Mr. Howson said “the fire hall is not at this stage yet, but next year or soon after it will be a problem.”
“This is why we asked for this report to be done,” said Councillor Barb Erskine. “To provide the type of information that we can take and move forward on.”
“The fire hall has been on our list for quite awhile,” said Councillor Brian Parker. He pointed out a similar investigation done by an engineer a couple of years ago reported that the building foundation is in poor shape.
Councillor Erskine noted 91 Main Street gets a lot of traffic. “When we’re talking about amalgamating of buildings and planning the next steps of what buildings should be put together, none of us have an engineering or building plan background.”
Mr. Howson said a consultant would help in facilitating the township through the process. Although he is a structural engineer, he said other people at Tulloch could assist the municipality.
“The first step is to identify what buildings you want under one facility,” said Mr. Moody. “Then you would need to consult an architect to look at how to utilize space and make and make the most effective decisions. The architect would come up with a floor plan and an estimate of the costs involved.” A consultant would also help in filling out applications for government funding.
“Basically, you have reaffirmed what we have heard previously; that we need to consolidate some of our buildings, such as the fire hall and 91 Main Street,” added Councillor Parker.
