COBDEN — The Cobden Visitor’s Centre is getting a $60,000 facelift courtesy of township and federal funding.
Council had set aside $60,000 to make the visitor’s centre accessible, however, it received a $30,000 federal accessibility grant, noted Chief Administrative Officer Christine FitzSimons at the Oct. 21 council meeting.
She noted the tender is being worked on now, and it’s expected that by April 1, when the federal funding can be accessed, the renovations will begin and be completed by the Victoria Day weekend in May.
The discussion came up following a report from Art Cobb, who is the tourist booth volunteer co-ordinator.
In a report to council, he noted the many volunteers thank council and staff for financial support throughout the year. Due to much help from deputy-clerk Hope Dillabough, statistics are kept regarding visitors to the centre, he wrote.
In 2015, volunteers kept better track of all visitors and it was noted 11,384 visitors used the centre or park between the hours of 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. in July and August and weekends in June.
Previous to that, while records were kept, it was just those who used the visitors centre, which tallied 9,698 in 2014 down to 2,462 in 2005.
Council thanked Mr. Cobb and the “dedicated community volunteers” who operate the centre.
Councillor Chris Olmstead noted the facility and park are well used.
“It’s a real hats off to the job the volunteers have done,” he said.
Councillor Daryl McLaughlin questioned if Mr. Cobb will be the co-ordinator next year. If not, is there someone he could suggest to take over, he questioned.
“We do need to have somebody look after it,” he said. “He’s done such a terrific job these last number of years.”
CAO FitzSimons said if Mr. Cobb is strong enough, he will most likely continue to be the co-ordinator.
Deputy-Clerk Dillabough will be discussing succession planning with Mr. Cobb over the winter months, she added.
“I have a couple of strategic plan suggestions we might look at in the future,” CAO FitzSimons said.
