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YOUR Independent Community Newspaper THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2018
Vol. 6 Edition 47
Old Kent courthouse, and jail in local hands
By Mary Beth Corcoran mary@chathamvoice.com
While its future still isn’t known, the former Kent County Courthouse and Jail historical building is now in local hands. According to local realtor Carson Warrener, his family purchased the building after the province put it up for public sale for an approximate $1 million price tag. The municipality was offered the property to purchase, but passed on it. The former Kent County Courthouse and Jail building, built in 1849, was designated a heritage building by Chatham-Kent council in 2003, and was closed in 2014. “We own similar buildings in the downtown vicinity and it’s always been on our radar as a significant historic building,” Warrener said in an interview with The Voice. “Over the last 11 or
12 years, as they moved the courts out and then more recently moved the corrections facility out, it was pretty obvious it was going to become surplus so we were watching and listening, and then it did come up. “It’s not that it’s really something we needed; but you never need a historic building,” Warrener joked, “But the community definitely needs them from the historic preservation side of it.” The original jail building is made of white limestone. Of historical significance and interest is that Canada’s second prime minister, Alexander Mackenzie, worked as a stone mason on the project when he first came to Canada looking for work. It is also one of only four remaining buildings in Chatham that predate 1860. The Warrener family, led by patriarch Dan, are known in the community for purchasing historical-
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ly significant buildings and re-purposing them for community or private business use. One example is the former Chatham Armoury beside Tecumseh Park, which now houses businesses and is used as an event centre available to rent by the public. “The municipality has the first right of refusal and they obviously passed, so that allowed it to go to the open market. There was quite a bit of interest from other folks, so we were pretty quick to get an offer in and get that process started,” Warrener explained. “The big question everyone has is what are your plans; what are you going to do?” He said his family doesn’t have a plan yet, as they need to learn more about the building, which is unique historically as well as architecturally, with the courts and jail in one facility. Continued on page 2
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What a homecoming!
Sarah Schofield/The Chatham Voice
Chatham’s own Bridget Carleton (21), a senior with the Iowa Cyclones, watches for a rebound Nov. 21 against the Eastern Michigan Eagles. Carleton was joined by about 1,200 cheering family and friends as she made a special return to her hometown on Nov. 21, armed with her Cyclones teammates. With a final score of 85-59, Iowa won the NCAA Division-I game hosted at St. Clair College’s HealthPlex. The Cyclones try to play a game close to home for each senior, but this marked the first time the team came north of the border to play.
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