Today is Cranbrook City Council’s last day in their regular chambers at City Hall.
Council is moving out as upgrades and renovations are being done for the Council Chambers and the south wing over the summer.
Mayor Lee Pratt says the project costs around $1.5-million, provided by the federal and provincial governments and not local taxpayers.
“We thought Well we’ll put in a grant application, see what happens. And we were successful,” Pratt says. “With that now it’ll be a lot of improvements too to the HVAC system and what not that’s sadly needed.”
In the meantime, council will move to the Manual Training School beside the public library, the first meeting there is happening May 9.
Pratt says the biggest hurdle in the transition will be setting up IT systems in the new space.
“They’re going to have to set up all the technology in there for the cameras and that for the Zoom meetings and what not,” he says. “It’s going to be challenging for nsure but I’m sure we’re going to get through it.”
You can learn more about the renovations from the City below:
Council approved the temporary relocation of all remaining regular meetings of Council in 2022 to the Manual Training School, located beside the Cranbrook Public Library, starting Monday May 9, 2022.
The relocation comes as significant and long overdue upgrades and renovations are set to be made to Council Chambers and the south wing of City Hall starting in early May.
The construction work is being funded by a $1.51 million grant provided by both the Government of Canada and the Province of BC.
This project is not being funded through local tax dollars. Project grant funds are coming from the Government of Canada and the Province of British Columbia through the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program’s (ICIP) – COVID-19 Resilience Infrastructure Stream with Canada contributing over $1.2 million, and over $300,000 in funds coming from the Province of B.C.
“We have a great opportunity to invest in both the improvement and restoration of this important heritage building that is City Hall, without impacting the local taxes – something that would not be possible without this grant,” says Mayor Lee Pratt. “On behalf of the City, I am grateful for the financial commitment to this project from both the Government of Canada and the Province of BC.”
This project will see a full renovation of Council chambers creating a multi-use space with the ability to easily reconfigure the room for training, large meetings and other events.
Significant technological upgrades will also be made to better accommodate virtual attendance at meetings.
Hazardous materials removal from City Hall is also a key component of the project.
Some additional renovation work and updates will be made using funds previously budgeted for while the City has contractors on site in order to save costs.
“We are very excited to be part of this important heritage revitalization project. We worked hard with city staff and our consultants to bring the council chambers back to its original design, while maximizing its flexibility to allow other functions like training and large meetings,” says Bassem Tawfik, Principal at KMBR Architects. “This is achieved by using flexible furniture configurations and the latest technology.”
Council meetings will continue to be livestreamed as usual by visiting https://cranbrook.ca/livestream/.
The renovations and upgrades are expected to be substantially complete by the end of the year.
– Submitted by the City of Cranbrook
– Lee Pratt, Mayor of Cranbrook
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