A $1-million expansion of the Port Elgin beach washrooms is not moving ahead as proposed.
Saugeen Shores council voted 9-0 to turn down the construction tender for the beach house a $1.1-million expansion of the Green St. washrooms that would have seen the addition of a restaurant and other amenities.
Councillors unanimously voiced concern about the cost of the project, including Vice Deputy Mayor Diane Huber, who says it's important to consider interest payments for the debt-financed project, which would have pushed the final cost to close to $2-million.
"Certainly, there's a need for some upgrades to the washrooms and also just new facilities, because it's a new world out there," says Huber. "But $2-million for a location that wouldn't be accessible 12 months of the year, it's just a bit much."
Council has instructed staff to come back with alternative proposals with a lower price tag, but Councillor Neil Menage says it's just going in circles, despite public feedback that they want council to invest heavily in the municipality's waterfront.
"The public said, 'you know, that main beach needs help' and so we just threw it back [to staff] again and it's been thrown back so many times now, I don't know what they're going to do with it," says Menage. "I hope that we can get some advancement there and that it's not an ugly advancement, I hope it actually looks good."
Menage speculates that his fellow councillors may have been hit with sticker shock and wonders if the proposal would have had more support if the price tag had come in a few hundred thousand dollars less.