South Bruce Peninsula council is moving ahead with a scaled-down version of the proposed Sauble Beach town square project.
Council approved spending $700,000 on the project to renovate and landscape the existing washrooms on Lakeshore Boulevard immediately north of Main St., as well as purchase a portable stage.
Council scrapped a more elaborate earlier plan that included new-build washrooms and a permanent stage, mainly because the price escalated to as high as $2-million.
CAO Brad McRoberts says even after council asked the architectural consultant to scale back to fit the original $900,000 budget, the price did not drop as expected.
"Originally, it was more of a fixed-stage system with new washrooms and a fairly elaborate landscaping plan," says McRoberts. "Once we looked at that, even in a scaled-back version, it became prohibitively expensive, so we kind of had to step back and take a more revised approach."
McRoberts says the actual work will cost about $600,000 to complete, with just shy of $100,000 already spent on consulting fees.
Mayor Janice Jackson says it's exciting to finally sign off on the project, pointing out the portable stage feature will help the municipality save money on other festivals.
"It's going to benefit the entire town, because we're going to move it around when needed, and especially with the Wiarton Willie Festival, we pay $4,000 per year just to rent that stage," says Jackson. "I think this is a bonus for the whole community, I think it's a great plan."
Jackson says they can begin renovations of the washrooms immediately with exterior work, though interior work will likely have to wait until after Labour Day when tourism crowds lessen.
She adds the updated washrooms will address accessibility issues, pointing out there should still be about $200,000 left in the project budget when completed, so there's an option to purchase portable washrooms at a later date.