A group of Sarnia residents has come up with three proposals for the former Kinsmen Centre lands on Lakeshore Rd.
The city declared the community centre surplus in 2016 after staff estimated it would cost $250,000 to replace a leaking roof and remove mould and asbestos.
City planners wanted to have the land rezoned from "parks" to "urban residential" but deferred after 300 people signed a petition in opposition.
Spokesman Patrick Marcella says they've developed three possible solutions. The first two would see all or part of the centre restored with the addition of a pavilion at a $500,000 cost.
The third would see a new building go up, complete with washrooms, kitchen and picnic pavilion at a cost of $250,000.
"We have the Kinsmen on board with us to see what it would take to restore the entire building " says Marcella. "We're not sure if that is going to be an option but we are going to take a look at that. We are hoping to have an engineer take a look at the site to see if it is feasible to restore part of the building as well and include a pavilion at the back facing the park."
Marcella says a number of businesses and contractors say they would help financially because a community centre is needed in the area.
He adds it makes no sense to put houses up on the land because it goes against the city's tree bylaw policy.
The city will host a public consultation meeting that begins at 7pm Tuesday, June 13 at Clearwater Arena.
