Council gives go ahead to repair conservatory

Thunder Bay city council just narrowly passed the recommendation to spend more than $76,000 to re-open the Centennial Botanical Conservatory.

Council met Monday night and after more than an hour of debate, passed an amendment by a vote of seven to six to release the money immediately.

The money will go toward fixing the main section of the conservatory, which will allow the public to use it while the city decides on a permanent solution.

Falling glass forced the city to close the conservatory in early 2012.

Coun. Mark Bentz says it’s important to re-open the conservatory quickly.

"I'm certainly supportive of Coun. Angus' initiative to get that display house open sooner than later for the public," Bentz said. "Having it sit there locked is unfortunate to say the least."

However, not every councillor agreed with the move to release the money.

"We’re going to put $76,00 into something — that’s the minimum — and then in a year from now we can totally say we’re done with that and we’re going to…just forget about it," Coun. Rebecca Johnson said. "How can you just spend that kind of money?"

Johnson’s said the city should not be paying for temporary fixes to the more than 40-year-old building.

The money will be used to install safety netting inside the conservatory to catch any potential broken glass falling from the ceiling.