NEW CITY HALL OPENS
Jackie rivard, one of the first visitors at the new windsor city hall, stops in front of a wall filled with portraits of past windsor mayors. the new downtown facility opened to the public on tuesday, with an official grand opening set for saturday.
Bigger, better, bolder — and brighter.
Windsor’s new window-filled city hall opened to the public at noon on Tuesday, ushering in a handful of people waiting in line as well as a new era of municipal business.
“It’s beautiful,” said longtime Windsor resident Lanny Tong, one of the first visitors who came only to check out the new facility and who spent time studying the portraits of mayors. “It’s amazing. It makes quite an impression. “It’s to be respected. It represents the city well. It’s what the city deserves.”
The cavernous lobby, awash in natural light, features acres of glass and a welcome kiosk where employees direct customers to the proper departments which, for the public, are largely on the first and second floors.
Spacious council chambers, with more comfortable seating for 180 people and glass walls which can open up to accommodate overflow crowds, sit directly across from the front entrance and send a message about what’s important to the public.
The building, first approved in 2014 before the current council was elected, is paid for. It was built on time and under budget. It cost a little more than $30 million to build. Plus, new furniture cost $1.5 million. Demolishing the old 1956 city hall with its blue-enamelled steel exterior and lack of windows will bring the project’s price tag to more than $34 million. The cost of expanding the civic terrace and esplanade as Phase 3 of the project has yet to be determined — though it will bring the entire bill to $40 million-plus.
Mayor Drew Dilkens promises something special for people to enjoy outside, as well.
“It depends on what council decides to do,” Dilkens said. “There are some pretty exciting designs that include a water feature that could turn into a skating rink in the winter. Water and lights always attract people.”
First, however, it’s time to enjoy the accessible five-storey building that ups city hall’s square footage from 70,000 to 120,000, including 12,000 for future expansion. “It’s pretty exciting,” Dilkens said. “It’s been a long time in the making. There has been a lot of excitement building, amongst the public but also our staff, who are used to working in the old building in less-than-ideal conditions. “I can see on their faces they’re excited to come to work. I can see on the faces of folks in line that they ’re excited to be one of the first in the door.”
The new place — which will have a grand opening Saturday — offers state-of-the-art digital capabilities, including screens that help visitors identify the right window. Jackie Rivard, who works with Windsor West Little League and was the first to collect bingo permits at the new city hall, liked her experience.
“It’s a beautiful building,” Rivard said. “Nice reception area. It was a little confusing at first, but we’ll get used to it.”
Moving files and 280 staff members, as was done over the weekend, is no easy feat. But city employees couldn’t simply lounge around on their first day. They had only till noon to welcome the public. Michael Gillis, the first person to buy a marriage licence at the new place — he waited an hour for it to open — said things went smoothly. “I love it,” said Gillis, who will marry Melissa Morgan in just three weeks. “It’s gorgeous. It feels roomy when you come in here. It’s not so congested and dingy as the old place. It’s roomy, it’s bright, it’s 2018. It was money well spent.”
You also have 2,300 employees right now with no income. They are not spending with staycations or anything else right now
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It’s gorgeous. It feels roomy when you come in here. It’s not so congested anddingyas the old place.