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Stanton Hotel moves to permanent site

By a narrow 14–15 weighted vote, Dufferin County Council has approved the move of the historic Stanton Hotel to its permanent location on the grounds of the county museum.

The tight vote, however, was only with respect to the manner in which the 150-year-old building would be re-sited. The council earlier had effectively voted in favour of preserving the building at the museum by agreeing to share the costs of moving it there with the Community Association to Save Stanton Hotel (CASSH).

Between that motion at the May council meeting and last Thursday, Museum staff had obtained a favourable price for the move, and had suggested three choices for the council's consideration: a temporary move to a different spot on the property where the hotel now sits; a move to a temporary holding spot on the south side of the museum grounds; and a move to its permanent site at the museum.

On a motion by Mulmur Deputy Mayor Rhonda Campbell-Moon and Orangeville Deputy Mayor Warren Maycock, the third of the three possible choices was selected.

The chosen option means replacing the foundation under the building where it will be placed. Victor Snow, who has acted as a consultant to CASSH and whose expertise is the restoration of heritage buildings, said outside the council meeting that he would have preferred Option 2 although the chosen one is “doable.”

According to a report from museum curator Wayne Townsend, Keswick-based Danco would move the structure for a total price of $12,200 including the cost of returning to settle the building onto its foundation.

Among other considerations, it was the concept of moving the building to a site and then building a foundation under it that evoked much of the opposition.

“I would have supported Option 2,” said Shelburne Mayor Ed Crewson in a phone interview following the meeting. He said he had opposed Option 3 as there had been no costing of the foundation replacement, among other things, and said the transaction was “illogical” and “all backwards” in terms of how county business is usually conducted.

Among other opponents, Melancthon Mayor Bill Hill said he voted against the motion as he is opposed to preserving the hotel at the museum grounds. “The museum board doesn't want it” and our chief building official (advised against moving it).”

East Garafraxa Mayor Allen Taylor said, in effect, there had been too many unanswered questions.”It's the worst piece of business I've seen at county council,” he said in the context of knowing the ultimate costs and of having a definition of what is meant by “sharing” the costs of the move.

But he said the decision to move to the museum had already been made, so it was time to get on with it.

As well, he was not alone in noting that the council would be leaving itself wide open to litigation in the event of a tragic collision at the intersection while the building remains there, as it had acknowledge there is a visibility problem.

Additionally, the building had recently been targeted by vandals. There might have been some anxiety to get it protected behind the gates of the museum grounds.

At CASSH, spokesman Carl Tafel said some major fundraisers are already in the planning stages for the restoration. He had just recently received a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the county and the association, and wouldn't comment on whether CASSH has sufficient information to proceed with its Trillium grant application by the October deadline.

Trillium would be the largest single source of funding although CASSH intends to seek corporate donation when it obtains its status to issue tax receipts.

Beyond the hotel's move to the museum grounds, financing the restoration is the responsibility of “the community” according to the May motion of the council.

Supporters of last Thursday's motion were Orangeville Mayor Rob Adams and Deputy Warren Maycock, Amaranth Mayor Don MacIver, Shelburne Deputy Ken Bennington and Mulmur Deputy Rhonda Campbell Moon.

The timeline for the move was not known Wednesday.

By Wes Keller

Post date: 2013-07-18 16:10:17
Post date GMT: 2013-07-18 20:10:17
Post modified date: 2013-07-25 21:33:36
Post modified date GMT: 2013-07-26 01:33:36