By Ruby Pratka

Local Journalism Initiative

Employees and visitors to the town hall in Bedford Township have a little more breathing room. The new town hall, with a meeting room/reception hall, a full kitchen and private offices, was officially opened during a brief ceremony on June 14. Mayor Gilles St-Jean and MNA Isabelle Charest spoke, the ribbon was cut and town councillors gave guided tours of the new building.

The new building, built from the ground up, is adjacent to the former town hall and fire station, which will be converted into a new municipal garage. In the old town hall, “It was difficult to organize activities for citizens since only a very limited number of people could access them. We also didn’t meet universal accessibility standards, not to mention that the term ‘confidentiality’ lost its meaning given the cramped, multi-purpose spaces,” director general and town clerk Manon Blanchet said in a statement announcing the opening of the new building. Citizens who attended council meetings had to leave the building – and brave the weather – whenever council went in camera.

 “The old building was part town hall and part fire station, it was very small and it wasn’t private – the director general always had someone else in her office,” explained St-Jean in a brief English-language interview. “We could only receive 30 people [for meetings]. Now we can receive 70 or 80, and we have a kitchen, so if someone wants to hold a wedding reception or a Christmas party, they can do that.” The director general, assistant director general and administrator – a job filled by two part-time staff members –  all have office space of their own. People who attend council meetings will be able to wait indoors. There is no mayor’s office – “I haven’t needed an office in the last 20 years and I don’t expect to need one in the next eight,” St-Jean said – but there is shared workspace in the meeting room. The new building also has a 36-car parking lot. The conversion of the old town hall into a garage is well underway, also largely funded by a government grant; the fire trucks will be moved to the fire station in the town of Bedford.

“Now, we can welcome citizens with dignity in beautiful offices and rent out our large community hall and terrasse,” Blanchet added.

The municipality bought the land where the new town hall now stands in 2019, and started working toward the project in earnest in 2022 when they got a provincial grant equivalent to 78 per cent of the estimated cost of $2.8 million. “The province paid $2,152,020, so we were left with $656,839 that we had to pay,” Saint-Jean said. “Given that we sold a piece of land two years ago that covered that amount, the building will not show up on people’s tax bills. I didn’t want people to have an extra tax – I wanted the building paid for, and that’s what happened.”

“I’m very pleased that the government of Quebec has contributed to the construction of this essential infrastructure for Bedford Township. This new municipal office will not only allow municipal staff to work in modern, well-adapted premises, but it will also provide residents with a welcoming space for the entire community,” Charest said in a statement.