Township Council Gives Green Light to Zorra Municipal Office and Child Care Centre

Friday, 19 August 2022 05:47

By Marcie Culbert

The new Zorra Municipal Office and Child Care Centre will be located in Thamesford and construction will begin this November.

ZORRA TOWNSHIP - It's official, a new municipal office and child care facility will be built on Brock Street in Thamesford.

Zorra Township Council approved the project on Wednesday, with a total price tag of $6.5-million. Brantford's Paulsan Construction has been hired to build the 19,760-square-foot building.

Ward 2 Councillor Katie Grigg says it will add 88 new childcare spaces to the community.

“I receive multiple calls a week from area parents seeking childcare in Thamesford. To me, the childcare component of this project was the primary factor in deciding to proceed. Young working parents struggling to find childcare will now be able to have this provided in our community and all of Zorra benefits from this.”

The Zorra Municipal Office and Child Care Centre has a projected lifespan of 50 years and it will also use renewable energy for heating and cooling.

Mayor Marcus Ryan says it will benefit the Township in the long run.

"Council remains focused on life-cycle costing for all municipal projects. The Zorra Municipal Office and Child Care Centre life-cycle costs over the course of 30 years will be less than that of the costs for the existing Municipal Office. And Council knows that substantial renovations will be required to address accessibility deficiencies."

Ward 4 Councillor Paul Mitchell says this wouldn't have been possible without the sale of the Maple Leaf Foods property.

“The proceeds from the purchase and sale of Maple Leaf Foods made this project possible. Without the injection of $3-million of profits on the land sales, this was not achievable.”

His fellow Councillors Steve McDonald and Ron Forbes have stated that the sale of the Thamesford Fire Station also helped, and the future sale of the current Municipal Office will also help cover the cost.

Shovels will hit the ground this November and the construction is expected to last about 11 months.