London city council has approved a deal to provide an additional $9 million to Fanshawe College to expand its downtown presence.
Councillor Denise Brown, who held the deciding vote, said she would support the funding request after consultations with many people and receiving hundreds of emails.
She says her decision is "based on research, not flip-flopping."
Also voting in favour were Mayor Joni Baechler and Councillors Matt Brown, Paul Hubert, Harold Usher, Russ Monteith, Judy Bryant and Nancy Branscombe.
It came down to an 8-7 vote in favour of the deal, but the decision does come with amendments that could save the city money.
That includes keeping a provincial 'heads and beds rate' of $750,000 over 10 years with the city and returning any construction cost savings to city hall.
The plan involves purchasing, converting and expanding the Kingsmill's building into space for 1,600 additional students.
The college had asked for an additional $10 million on top of the $20 million already committed by the city for its downtown expansion.
But downtown businesses hae offered to provide $1 million of the additional funds needed to help revive the deal.
At a meeting last week, a committee voted 3-2 in favour of providing the additional $9 million still needed, but the decision required a full council vote.
In the first vote on the issue in July, a split vote of 7-7 in council led to the defeat of the motion.
