While the members of Springwater Township council agree that the Anten Mills Community Centre is historically and culturally important, they remain divided on how best to deal with its inevitable restoration.
At Wednesday night’s council meeting, Coun. Matt Garwood, a member of the cultural and heritage committee, presented a proposal from the committee that requests the township receive for information a request for restoration of designated heritage attributes at the centre, located in the heart of the community 15 minutes north of Barrie.
“The request is seeking a few key items, including inspecting the bell tower and making it workable, restoring the ceiling, installing replica lighting in the space and focusing on the flooring as well, moving forward, to bring the space back to the period it was created,” Garwood said. “The goal here is to showcase and highlight what made this, the Anten Mills Community Centre, a heritage property.
“I think it’s a fantastic idea, one that I supported at our committee and one that I’m happy to speak to today,” he added.
According to Garwood, there are three stages to the plan.
The first stage is to research the costs associated with the restoration.
The second stage is to conduct the necessary reviews and assessments and report back to council with options and total costs associated with restoring the centre.
Stage three would be the approval of the project and moving forward with the project itself.
“I definitely think it’s our responsibility to maintain these buildings within our municipality,” said Coun. Phil Fisher. “Particularly those that are designated heritage buildings.”
Fisher said he liked Garwood’s approach.
“Going out and looking at costs first and then bringing it back, I do like that,” Fisher said. “If we’re looking at an itemized cost list of what it would be, I would definitely think that that’s a very smart approach and allows us, as a council, to pick and choose, maybe get our best deal in terms of maintaining it.”
While Deputy Mayor George Cabral is not opposed to having work done on the Anten Mills Community Centre — he thinks all of the heritage properties should be reviewed for potential repairs — he did express concerns about doing restoration work on a building that received its heritage designation only three years ago and the impact a working bell tower would have on the community.
“The one piece I question is restoring things that weren’t already there in the initial period when it was designated as a heritage building,” Cabral said. “However, I also have to wonder whether or not everybody in Anten Mills would be wanting a bell ringing in the bell tower if it was actually made operational.
“I could be 100 per cent wrong and they might love the idea,” he added.
While she said she couldn’t speak for everybody in Anten Mills, Springwater Mayor Jennifer Coughlin, who lives across the road from the community centre, said she would look forward to hearing the bell chime.
“It’s something uniquely special to Anten Mills,” Coughlin said. “And I think there are a lot of generational families in the area, but also a lot of new families, who gather there.”
A recent trip to Europe has reinforced her commitment to heritage and culture and the value it holds.
“The attention and dedication that the European cities pay to holding on to what was and making sure that’s available to generations to come was an overwhelming experience,” she said.
“I think investing in our heritage and our culture, opportunities that however they come to us, I think that we need to embrace them," the mayor added. "I think doing the due diligence, as Coun. Garwood pointed out, step-by-step, and not just jumping right to the final, is a good first step.
"I think, building by building, I’m hopeful that we can restore and enhance our heritage through our buildings.”
Garwood offered an amendment to the original motion.
“The motion now before council be amended as follows: and that council direct staff to obtain quotes from qualified contractors to undertake the proposed works and report back to council prior to the 2025 budget deliberations.”
The amendment was seconded by Coun. Brad Thompson and was carried. The main motion, as amended, was also carried.
