Planning for construction of the new Thornbury Community Family Health Centre is well underway.

Since the Town of Blue Mountains Council approved financial support in December, 2009, the Building Committee has been meeting regularly with the project architect, planners and engineers At last week's meeting, Renzo Pillon of Pillon Architects Inc. presented draft floor plans of the interior and elevation plans showing how the building may look.  

Colin Travis of Travis Inc., site planners, spoke to the planning requirements and the reasons for location of such items as the main entranceway and the parking facilities. Brian Adamson, Chair of the Building Committee, reported that contracts had been let for required soil tests and a Phase 1 Environmental Assessment report.

The health centre has been designed for two phases of construction.  The first 6,400 square feet phase will be able to house six doctors and their staff of receptionists and nurses.  In addition, there will be office or examination space for visiting allied health professionals such as dieticians and chiropodists.  The plans allow for an additional 2,600 square foot extension to be constructed in the future as population growth requires additional family physicians or allied health professionals.

The building will be one story in height and located between Tigs and the Cidery building on King Street.  Patients will be able to access the health centre by a sidewalk to be constructed on King Street, or by vehicle entrances on King Street or Elgin Street leading to a new free parking area. There will be a drop off area beside the main entranceway to allow for ease of access to the building.

During a follow-up meeting with David Finbow, Director of Planning and Building and Reg Russwurm, Director of Engineering & Public Works for Town of Blue Mountains, Renzo Pillon stressed the importance of design elements that would reflect the nature of Thornbury's heritage and present the health centre as an integral part of the community.  

Dr. Nathalie Sauriol stressed the need for lots of natural light and a warm welcoming atmosphere in the centre. Mr. Finbow stressed the town's understanding of the need for the centre, and the importance and priority that would be given to the project during the site plan approval and building permit process.

During the next few weeks, the architects and planners will continue their work to develop a site plan approval process. The site plan approval process will take three to five months, which will allow for construction to begin in early July. More detailed information regarding interior layouts, specialized medical equipment and storage areas and new electronic medical records requirements will be developed over the next month.

In addition, John Metras, town solicitor and Brian Adamson will be developing a draft Municipal Capital Facility Agreement and Lease which will define the contractual terms for the long term use of the lands for the Health Centre.  

"All in all, it's a very positive and large step forward for the Thornbury Community Family Health Centre, which will see ground broken by July, 2010 and occupancy by December, 2010 or January, 2011," said committee member Brian Adamson.  

Further reports of progress will be made through this newspaper on a regular basis.