Richmond Hill votes to build new civic centre, gathering place downtown

'Momentous decision' to build $200 million project

YorkRegion.com
Sept. 9, 2016
By Kim Zarzour

The Town of Richmond Hill is calling it a “momentous decision”. Councillors voted this week to build a new civic centre in the downtown core, moving town hall back to the centre of the community.

The proposed all-season community space at the corner of Yonge Street and Major Mackenzie Drive will include new municipal offices, an expanded Central Library and public gathering areas and is expected to cost the town almost $200 million.

Discussions and public consultations for the long-awaited civic facility have been going on for two decades, and Mayor Dave Barrow says now is the time to make it happen.

“This will be the first time Richmond Hill will have a civic square and town hall in one place.”

The current municipal offices at 225 East Beaver Creek Rd. are expected to exceed capacity by 2023.

The downtown project includes a public square, a reflecting pool/skating rink, amphitheatre, pedestrian promenade and pedestrian plazas.

“Through numerous public consultations including the visioning process conducted in 2012, the residents of Richmond Hill made it clear that a central gathering space is needed for the community,” Barrow said.

“Up until now we have been in retrofitted buildings. This project will meet our capacity for future growth to serve the residents and provide a gathering space back in our downtown core.”
This new so-called civic precinct project is also expected to be a catalyst for downtown revitalization, an area that has struggled in recent years.

“Our civic precinct will be a milestone legacy project for Richmond Hill,” said Karen Cilevitz, Ward 5 councillor and chairperson of the Civic Precinct Task Force. “It will become both a place of municipal business and a gathering place for our residents to value and enjoy, now and into the future.”

Council voted on the project at a special meeting Wednesday, with all but one councillor in favour of the project.

Ward 1 Councillor Greg Beros was the sole dissenting vote, suggesting the town could save money by scrapping the idea of a new town hall on the property and reconfiguring or adding to the offices currently located on the border of Markham and Richmond Hill.

A preliminary estimate of the total project cost - including the civic precinct and expansion of the central library - is $191,497,000.

Richmond Hill currently has about three quarters of the estimated budget in reserves.

Staff is expected to present a draft financial plan with options to fund the remaining portion, along with a timeline for the new build, in 2017.