Town of Newmarket renames operations centre after former CAO Bob Shelton
It's 1 of Canada's 1st municipal operation centres built to LEED silver standards
YorkRegion.com
January 2, 2019
Teresa Latchford
The Town of Newmarket has renamed its operations centre to honour former chief administrative officer Bob Shelton.
The town announced the centre, located at 1275 Maple Hill Court, is now known as the Robert N. Shelton Operations Centre in honour of the former chief administrative officer who retired on Nov. 30 after serving the town for 41 years.
The 65,000-square-foot, environmentally-friendly building opened in 2010 and was the recipient of the 2009 Award of Excellence from the Canadian Architect Magazine and the 2012 Governor General’s Medal for Outstanding Design in Canadian Architecture.
The facility is one of the first municipal operation centres in the country to be built to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) silver standards.
Some of the environmental features include a green roof, geothermal heating and cooling, solar hot water heating, stormwater collection for irrigation and a ground mounted solar panel.
Shelton began his career in 1977 when he was hired as the assistant to the town engineer. Throughout the years he continued to wear many hats including deputy town engineer, director of operations, acting director of planning, director of operations, director of public works and environmental services and finally, chief administrative officer.
He played a major role in a number of projects and initiatives the town credits to it being continuously recognized as one of the best place to live in Canada ranked by Money Sense. These accomplishments included:
- The purchase of the Mulock Farm property, where the town intends to create a “Central Park” inspired green space
- The revitalization of the downtown area and creation of Riverwalk Commons
- The construction of the LEED silver certified operations centre
- The opening of the Magna Centre
- The development of Canada’s first LEED platinum certified subdivision
- The installation of public art works like the Tom Taylor Trail markers
- Creation of the N6 municipalities group including Aurora, East Gwillimbury, Georgina, Newmarket, King and Whitchurch-Stouffville that have combined services to create efficiencies
- Guiding staff with the town’s first strategic plan, core values, official and secondary plans, cultural master plan and the economic development strategy
