Some members of Sarnia council think the seven year old stage built at Centennial Park should be leveled and constructed again from scratch.
It's one option Mayor Mike Bradley, City/County Councillor Bill Dennis, and City Councillor George Vandenberg want considered in a Suncor Agora facility design proposal.
Bradley said the project has been a failure from day one.
"Why don't we just go back to ground zero and start all over again? It's not usable and back in the day when this came forward that was well known," said Bradley. "It faces the sun, groups can't use it because of the needs of their equipment, and so are we just putting some Band-Aids on this or, if this moves forward, will there be something substantial to make it a public facility again?"
Council approved $25,000 in funding from reserves to advance design services to address shade needs and opportunities to enhance the space and create a community gathering and event designation.
Bradley said he's met with a group interested in developing an outdoor skating rink.
General Manager of Community Services Stacey Forfar said staff could explore completely reimagining the whole space.
"There's a fabulous concrete pad down there," Forfar said. "It's got some great connections. There's been a wonderful amount of work and money spent in Centennial Park. That entire space itself needs to be rethought. Better connections to your playground, there are some different options down there, and if we can get a really good public space designer involved this could be something to consider in the future to make it a far more usable site."
Forfar said meetings would be held with residents and stakeholders.
"There will be a public consultation input phase. We'll come up with some different options for the community and come back with a final recommended one. [There are] opportunities to really explore some recreation surfaces down there that would really bring people to the space, and most importantly, get them to stay, get them to linger, and get them to enjoy those public amenities," Forfar said.
City/County Councillor Bill Dennis supported Bradley's idea.
"Mayor Bradley, if you're suggesting bulldozing that down and starting from scratch, I'm 150 per cent behind you," Dennis said.
Councillor George Vandenberg was also on board.
"We should probably just move on this thing and demolish it, re-plan it and then re-build it," Vandenberg said.
Councillor Anne Marie Gillis stressed the importance of including the local refinery who acquired the naming rights for the facility.
"The $25,000 is what's left of the donation by Suncor," Gillis said. "So, I think that anything that we do has to keep in mind that the donation was made by Suncor and we have to acknowledge that."
City/County Councillor Chrissy McRoberts felt the building should be kept.
"It's beautiful, we just need some shade there and then the stage will be perfect," said McRoberts. "But, I mean, shade to cover the whole thing... that's going to last 365 days a year. Let's invest in something that's going to be permanent and leave the structure as is."
Mayor Mike Bradley has long called for staff to address the structure's deficiencies.
The park underwent about $13.5 million in renovations over four years, reopening to the public in June of 2017.