Wellspring Niagara signs Pelham land lease
It started as a chat over a glass of wine in 2013.
Peter Papp, a Pelham town councillor, and Ann Mantini-Celima, executive director of Wellspring Niagara, in 2013 talked about the cancer support centre outgrowing its home in a Thorold plaza. Papp thought about Pelham-owned land in east Fonthill.
On Monday, they watched the signing of a lease between Pelham and Wellspring, for the centre to occupy 0.78 hectares of townowned land for construction of a new Wellspring headquarters.
Mantini-Celima told council the new headquarters increases Wellspring’s space to 929 square metres from 185 square metres. It will allow it to expand cancer support services to a growing number of clients that reached 640 last year.
“We so appreciate your support not only in Pelham but for people across the region,” she said.
A one-storey building will rise at Wellspring Way and Shaw Road across from the new Pelham community centre.
Town council passed bylaws approving the development plans for Wellspring and signed a $1-a-year, 20-year lease with a 20year renewal option.
Originally, the intention was to put Wellspring on town-owned land closer to Regional Road 20. However, commercial developments around the site strained privacy concerns for cancer patients. To overcome it, the town purchased another site nearby for $1.04 million from neighbouring Fonthill Gardens Inc.
The original land along with extra in the purchase will be sold as surplus town land, along with other town-owned land in east Fonthill, the municipality said in a background report.
Mantini-Celima said Wellspring will launch a fundraising campaign once it breaks ground shortly, she said. It already has $2 million as it strives to reach a $5-million goal for an endowment fund to cover operating expenses.
The new cancer support centre is expected to cost $2.4 million to build, she said.
Architect Emilio Raimondo explained the layout as a one-storey, L-shaped building with a design that suggests two storeys. It will also have a full basement for potential expansion. It will contain, offices, meeting rooms, a kitchen, children’s room, an exercise room and special service areas for people coping with various types of cancer. A large landscaped area will be in front of the building. Raimondo said the building design will suggest a commercial area on one side and a residential area on the other.
Wellspring began in June 2001 to provide free social, emotional, psychological, informational and spiritual support to people living with cancer and their families. Mantini-Celima said it was the dream of her brother Aldo Mantini, who died of cancer at age 31.
Wellspring vice-chair Paul Morocco said the cancer support service “can’t express how grateful we are to Pelham,”
“We can’t get over this kind gesture” that will influence the region 50 to 100 years, he said.