AMHERST – Amherst has received four expressions of interest for the town’s former police department building on Victoria Street.
“We received four proposals and all four are credible proposals,” Amherst CAO Greg Herrett said Tuesday. “We’re in the process of evaluating those proposals now and will be bringing a report to council in due course.”
Herrett said each of the proposals is being evaluated against a scoring matrix that was part of the request for proposals document.
He’s unsure when council will consider staff’s recommendations since both the committee-of-the-whole and regular council meetings this month have been cancelled because of the municipal election campaign.
Council could be called to a special meeting before the Oct. 20 election or it could elect to leave the matter for the new council that will meet for the first time in November.
Herrett said late last month that the town has been approached by several parties with expressions of interest in the building that suffered extensive smoke and water damage from the August fire that destroyed the adjoining Windsor and Black Block buildings.
Soon after the fire, the town was approached by its insurer about a $550,000 settlement offer. The town accepted the offer and was proceeding toward its demolition.
Herrett said the settlement offer will not be impacted if the town accepts one of the proposals.
The building has been declared surplus to the town’s needs and a minimum price has been set at $1.
After being housed for several weeks in the Amherst Fire Department, the police department recently moved to the top floor of the Four Fathers Memorial Library where it will remain until a decision is made on its permanent home.
