'Boggles the mind': Aurora residents ask council to rethink Library Square

$60-million project will have performance hall, outdoor square

Yorkregion.com
August 20, 2020
Lisa Queen

As misgivings over the $60-million Library Square plan mount, this week marks a milestone in the project’s development.

Councillors were scheduled to award the tender to Chandos Construction Ltd. at a special council meeting the night of Aug. 25.

That comes despite Library Square being rejected for a grant under the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program (ICIP), which sees federal, provincial and municipalities sharing the cost of infrastructure projects.

The funding would have covered just over half the costs of Library Square adjacent to the Aurora Cultural Centre.

The project includes an outdoor square and a new community facility with a 250-seat performance hall and a variety of programming spaces.

Coun. John Gallo is concerned about the growing costs, including the town’s recent $7.5-million purchase of property southeast of Yonge and Mosley streets being enveloped into the plans.

He complains losing out on the ICIP grant leaves the entire financial burden on the shoulders of Aurora taxpayers.

That also incenses residents Chris Ballard and Sue Walmer, who are part of a fledgling residents’ group concerned about Library Square.

“Pause this project. We’re not saying kill it,” Ballard said.

“It’s been rush, rush, rush. People are telling our group they feel this is being jammed down their throat and we need to pause and think about it.”

Ballard is Newmarket-Aurora’s former MPP and a former Aurora councillor, who lost his bid for mayor to Tom Mrakas in 2018.

“I ran for mayor because what I feared would happen financially. I’m quite sad to say that my worst fears are coming true. That this (council), outside of a couple of councillors, do not seem to appreciate or understand the implications of what they’re doing with this project,” Ballard said.

When Mrakas was asked to explain the benefits of Library Square and to address concerns, town staff referred The Banner to his Facebook post.

In it, he encourages residents to stay tuned for exciting news about the historic project, revitalizing the downtown and boosting the local economy.

He also said Aurora didn’t qualify for the ICIP grant because the town is in a strong financial position with healthy reserves.

The town’s website indicates Aurora has millions of dollars in reserve accounts.

But Ballard argues Aurora is not rolling in money and wants to see an auditor evaluate the town’s reserve funds.

“We don’t have lots of money, especially since we’re supposed to fix our sewers and roads and water in the coming years,” he said.

Ballard contends the town has failed to do proper financial and marketing studies to determine if Library Square make sense.

“They say they have done studies but they’re half-baked studies, they’re not full studies that look at all of the issues,” he said.

Ballard and Walmer said they support arts and culture and revitalizing the downtown core but feel Library Square is misguided.

The project should be re-evaluated in light of COVID-19, Walmer said.

She questions how Aurora can claim to be on secure financial footing when the pandemic has left the federal government facing a $343-billion deficit, the provincial government with a $38.5-billion deficit and the Region of York with an impact of $173 million.

“It boggles the mind,” she said, suggesting it would be cheaper to renovate Theatre Aurora rather than build a new performance hall.

“I’m an accountant, I’m a CPA, and this is not good fiscal management. People are concerned. We don’t know what the future holds.”

The town has a poor track record managing large projects, said Ballard, pointing out the joint operations centre came in significantly over budget.

“They’re flying blind. Aurora has a history of having its capital projects spiral out of control,” he said.