Amherstburg nixes town hall plan at former high school site

The current town hall in Amherstburg, Ont. on Oct. 21, 2025. (Chris Campbell/CTV News Windsor)

Amherstburg council has closed the door on a proposal from Valente Development.

Last fall, Valente Development said it was approached by the town to build a new town hall, replacing the current structure which is over 60 years old, as part of the redevelopment of the former General Amherst High School property.

Administration was recommending council pick one of two options on Monday night in order to begin negotiations.

The first option included a town hall with potential community space at a cost of $13.8 million.

The second option included a town hall with potential library space at a cost of $15.6 million.

Administration also presented, but was not recommending several different options, including renovating the current town hall, locating the municipal offices at the Libro Centre, or constructing a standalone building elsewhere in town. Estimated costs range from about $6 million to $27 million, depending on the option chosen.

Resident Bill Petruniak wondered how the town could afford the proposal.

“How could council consider this proposal without having even looked at or approved the 2026 budget. We don’t have it on the table yet, you don’t know what it is, how can you approve these large sums of money without knowing what the budget is going to be,” Petruniak said.

Martha Minogue said she has lived in the town for 30 years and didn’t believe it to be fair for residents to be left with the bill.

“You’re placing this massive amount of debt on a very tiny percentage of the population. I guess all those who don’t pay a penny in tax, they’re all in favour, why wouldn’t they be? But it’s us homeowners and business owners who have to foot the bill, please remember that,” Minogue said.

Michael Crawley was in favour of Valente’s proposal, and said, “We have a really good reputable developer, Peter Valente, he’s willing to invest a lot of money into this town, so I think that’s good. Maintaining a piece of Amherstburg’s community heritage, the school, it’ll help preserve that local identity.”

Council debated after hearing the many concerns from residents including current debt load, being under constant threat of tariffs, the moving of auto jobs to the U.S., preserving the Carnegie Library building, and residents uncomfortable with the town not having any ownership in a town hall inside of a superstructure.

At the end of the debate, council was left with more questions than answers.

Coun. Linden Crain brought forward a motion to not move forward with Valente’s proposal and instead explore the other options as outlined in the report.

“I don’t think right now, at a cost of $20 million plus, it’s something that we should be pursuing, not saying that this concept is unattractive, I think there’s a lot of very exciting aspects about, but right now, at this point in time, it’s not one that I would pursue,” Crain said.

Coun. Molly Allaire seconded the motion and said the proposal was too big for her liking, but added the town was still in need of a new municipal building.

“Unfortunately it is going to raise our taxes, hopefully having all of these ideas and looking at it at a deeper view will provide us a better option for the future, and not just for our current council, but for future councils to make those decisions as well,” Allaire said.

Coun. Diane Pouget said it was getting too close to the end of term and added that this file should be left with the next council to decide.

Coun. Don McArthur agreed with Pouget.

“We need a new town hall, we do, whether it’s a year from now, five years from now, ten years from now, we need a new town hall. Unfortunately we haven’t put any money aside to pay for it. Maybe we should start thinking about that,” McArthur said.

Crain’s motion passed 5-2 with mayor Michael Prue and Coun. Pouget opposed.