Editor's Note: This story previously appeared on StratfordToday.ca.
At their regular meeting Monday night, Stratford city council voted to extend the lease of 270 Water Street and the Queen Street parking lot to the Stratford Festival until the end of 2025 – a decision that will not influence the city’s deliberation on whether or not to declare 270 Water Street as surplus at an upcoming meeting.
Prior to council voting on the lease extension, Loreena McKennitt delegated in favour of extending the agreement with the Festival but did raise questions regarding their proposed purchase of the property for $1.
“I think the lease should be extended to either the end of this year or April 2026 in order to accommodate a full review of the building,” she said. “The next owner needs to be able to sustain the building, and I would suggest that if they are unable to do so that it be returned to the city if a new endeavour fails. I also wonder about the financial viability, as the Festival doesn’t include financial plans for the building, so where will the money come from for repairs? Is the proposed sale for $1 too generous?”
McKennitt added her concerns about the project’s transparency, saying that a letter from the Festival to the city dated January 7 is missing from the city’s public engagement website for this project.
“It’s only fair that the public gets information like this in a timely manner, and as someone who has contributed to this building in the past I hope that council is transparent in this decision-making process,” she said.
Mayor Martin Ritsma said that before any decisions are made on whether or not the property is declared surplus, they will see an assessment of the building’s current state and be able to determine from there what fair market value would be should it be sold publicly.
“I can’t speak for the entire council, but I would believe they would want to know what the fair market value is for that building if we get to a point where we’re saying it's surplus to any needs of the municipality,” he said. “I’m of the belief that council would like to have an understanding of what that building is worth on the market.”
Asked if he thinks letting the building go up for public sale rather than making an agreement with the Festival for a substantially under-market price, Ritsma said there are multiple answers to that question.
“Let’s take a look at if there is maybe something our municipality that can be served in that building, but we know as well that if we’re not utilizing the building the cost to maintain it has an impact,” he said. “If it’s put out to market or a tender purchase, then those dollars can be brought back into the city’s coffers. I don’t want to jump too far ahead with any speculation – we still have the process on February 24 of addressing whether its surplus, and then I would absolutely believe there’s an appetite from council to look at fair market value for that property.”