Well, boys and girls, it’s that time of year again when we dust ourselves off from the year that was and look with renewed optimism to the year that’s yet to be. 

But of course, we can’t begin that slow march into 2026 without taking a look back at the year that was. 

Once again, it’s been a busy year in Chatham-Kent, but probably the biggest news story of the year – at least from this old girl’s perspective – is that we finally have closure on the fate of the former Sears building.  

As I sat down to write this column I was thinking we’d been talking about this thing forever, and it didn’t take long for me to see that we had. 

In fact, as I dusted off my 2025 columns, I chuckled at the first one of the year, a portion of which I will repeat for you now: 

“I didn’t have to look too hard to find the first reference to what would eventually become a theme over the past year in Chatham-Kent, and that is the former Sears building in downtown Chatham. 

“With the headline, ‘The ICK saga continues,’ the news of the day was that the taxpayers of CK were very likely to become the newest owners of the old Sears building and loading dock in the Downtown Chatham Centre. Spoiler alert – we are! 

“Back in January of last year (2023) though, it was still in the discussion stages and was the only piece of the original Imagine Chatham-Kent proposal still in the books. At that time, we were looking at a completion date for the proposed community hub of August 2026, which would include a new civic centre, as well as new locations for the Chatham library and museum.” 

As I’m sure you know by now, earlier this year, council approved the project, but more on that later as we move through the year in my usual slapdash........

© Sarnia Observer