The District of Houston plans to replace the community hall and other town-owned buildings.
Mayor Shane Brienen said the planning started after the province came down with rules around asset management.
Part of this is to have a monetary value for everything the town owns and a lifecycle plan.
“Our community hall is one of the older buildings in the community, and we have several buildings that are nearing the point where they time out or may have asbestos or other issues…,” He said.
According to Brienen, the community hall doesn’t have asbestos, but it is nearing its end of life, especially on its foundation.
“You can’t keep putting money into a building that isn’t going to be there for a long time.”
He said the Houston RCMP building would likely need redoing soon, and the fire hall has asbestos.
Spaces for new buildings have been picked out, but plans still need to be finalized.
“As much as possible [funding will be] through grants, but then there’s also reserves on buildings, so whether we have a new building or an old building, there’s always a little bit of money put away every year into an account for it.”
He said these plans are in the works and may take time.
“With the replacement of buildings and stuff, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the community hall is coming up soon. It may if all the grants fall in place and everything works out.”