Bright visions of how the former Brookside Youth Centre might be repurposed and transformed to serve community purposes are on hold, Mayor John Henderson reported at Cobourg council on Monday.
When the news first broke that the centre was being vacated, citizens enthusiastically contributed their own ideas, while Chief Administrative Officer Tracey Vaughan and Director of Planning Glenn McGlashon joined Councillor Nicole Beatty in the brainstorming process with regular meetings.
Unfortunately, Henderson said, those meetings have stopped since the town heard that the Ministry of Corrections is reviewing whether it wants to transfer that property to another ministry for its use – in effect, keeping the property.
“If that is the case, we have, really, nowhere to go on this, and it would remain under the Ministry's umbrella,” Henderson said.
The mayor has talked with Northumberland-Peterborough South MPP David Piccini, who expressed the hope that a decision will be made, one way or the other, by January.
Meanwhile, Henderson pledged that the town will hang on to the public input that the original news inspired.
Henderson recalled asking, as far back as last May, for information on the logistics of the building's eventual repurposing, but never received a response.
“I can assure you, I have presented 13 detailed questions to MPP Piccini, and I am awaiting 13 detailed responses,” he stated.
“I hope to have more answers for you in January and, if not January, at least February.”