Some of the partners behind a project that is aiming to revamp and revitalize the Downtown Chatham Centre (DCC) are looking to clear up some rumours about the group's plans for the building.
Rob Myers -- who bought the property in 2021 along with his daughter Jessica and business partners Ron Nydam (JP Contractors), and Don Tetrault -- spoke with CK Mornings with Chris, Allanah & Matt on 94.3 CKSY on Monday about the current state of the project and what the group has planned for 100 King Street in Chatham.
Plans and renderings for the project were unveiled at a press conference earlier this month and were met with mixed feedback from the public -- especially online.
Some of the rumours that were swirling prompted JP Contractors to issue a statement online the day after the press release to clear up what the company called some "misinformation going around" including rumours that the 100 King Street project is being funded by the municipality. Myers also addressed that rumour head-on in Monday's interview.
"The city bought [the former Sears building]... that's a totally separate project than the rest of the shopping centre, which is totally on our expense," said Myers. "Believe me, I'd love to have the taxpayer pay for it, but that's impossible -- it's foolish to even say such a thing or think such a thing."
Myers said despite a couple of "negative nillies," the project is still going ahead as planned with new escalators on order and new elevators ordered. He said the group is also planning to completely gut the plaza and is looking at possibly putting an addition onto the RetroSuites Hotel (also owned and operated by the Myers family) at the east end of the mall building.
He said the group's motivation for the project is not to make a profit, but rather to improve the downtown core in Chatham, echoing the statement from JP Contractors on July 16, which said the project "is strictly an act of goodwill" as part of an effort to better the downtown area.
"I've said publicly, I'm not going to make a dollar on this... it's my hobby downtown and JP Contractors have done an amazing job down on the west end of King Street and we just thought, 'Someone needs to do this,'" said Myers. "I believe if it wasn't for myself and JP Contractors, no one would do it and it would be like a lot of towns in rural areas that are desolated because of the big box stores."
Myers also addressed a rumour that he wants the municipality to move the CK Public Library, the museum, and the Civic Centre into the downtown area so that he can buy all three of those properties for himself.
"Anyone that's educated at all has to realize that when the city moves into their new home in the Sears building and the current Civic Centre becomes empty, it's law that the city will put the current Civic Centre up for sale," said Myers. "The buildings will be put up for public tender, so it's not like 'Rob Myers has a deal with the city'... it's totally insane, it's foolish discussion."
The Municipality of Chatham-Kent recently invited the public to attend an information session regarding the Community Hub project in downtown Chatham, which is separate from the private investment project at 100 King Street funded by Myers and his business partners.
There is also a survey available online for the CK Community Hub project that will continue until August 7 and you can find a link to that by clicking here.
The current phase of the proposed Community Hub includes collecting public feedback, providing an updated cost estimate, and engaging the public on concept designs.