The riverfront Celestial Beacon project has been approved as the home for the newly restored Streetcar No. 351.
The $7 million project includes a small gallery space for the historic electric streetcar, a small concession stand, accessible washrooms, patio seating and bike rental facilities.
"We decided to invest in this trolley, and most recently we decided to spend $400,000 to pay for this plan so for us to not move forward now, I find it very disingenuous and irresponsible quite frankly because at this point we have invested well over $1 million to focus on this trolley. We decided to do so so that we could have it and have it there for the community to use and see," said Councillor Rino Bortolin.
Windsor City Council voted to approve the project with a few adjustments including minimizing the patio space to increase the naturalized area and lowering the grade of the building as much as possible so that sightlines are not disturbed.
Councillors Joanne Gignac and Fred Francis voted against the project stating concerns over budget concerns due to the current pandemic.
The city is applying for a Canadian Cultural Spaces Fund Grant of $3,032,066 to help pay for a portion of the project, the remainder of the project costs would come from the capital budget.
A final project design could be completed by the end of the year and construction could begin as early as spring 2021.