Council committee looks at repurposing old Golden Plough Lodge

Northumberland 89.7 FM file photo

By Cecilia Nasmith

Once Northumberland County can move residents of the Golden Plough Lodge to their new building, options must be considered on what will happen at the vacated site.

At Monday's meeting of county council's Public Works committee, a report by Director of Public Works Denise Marshall offered three options.

Because of the age of the building and such issues as asbestos, retaining the building would require extensive rehabilitation. Should that be the choice, however, there are two options.

To keep the entire building for renovation and repurposing would cost an estimated $35- to $55-million.

The other option would be to keep part of it – the existing auditorium, chapel and surrounding administrative space at the south end. This could cost $7.5- to $12-million.

Another option would be to proceed with the demolition and build a 2,000-sq.-ft. stand-alone building at the same address – either a permanent or a modular structure – which can in the short term be used as a seasonal warming centre. A permanent structure could cost $2.5- to $3-million and a modular one could run $1.6- to $2.2-million.

Committee member John Logel seemed interested in the option for a 2,000-sq.-ft. stand-alone building, but Marshall could offer no details in terms of what such a building might include – how many offices, how many washrooms.

Though Deputy Warden Mandy Martin (not a member of the committee but sitting in on the meeting) said she'd like to see the committee provide more specific direction in referring the report to county council, committee chair Scott Jibb disagreed and put forward a motion to refer the report to county council's Jan. 21 meeting for further discussion.

Meanwhile, acting Chief Administrative Officer Glenn Dees noted that the existing warming room (in Committee Room A, next door to county-council chambers) was seeing an average of 14 to 15 individuals a night – which corresponded more or less to the number being turned away at the county's shelter at 310 Division St., Cobourg, which is currently at capacity.