The Austin and District Community Centre Project
AUSTIN DISTRICT COMMUNITY HALL BUILDING FUND NEWS – AUGUST 2007
It doesn’t look like a lot has been happening this last little while, but the committee has been busy with fund raising and building planning. In the design department, we have had meetings with engineers and architects.
We met with people representing Community Places and Manitoba Culture Tourism and Heritage about the infrastructure grant process and have made an application for infrastructure money.
We have also gone to several communities to inspect their community facilities and getting advice on the do’s and don’t of hall design.
In the course of our planning, we ran into a snag… or an opportunity, depending on how it is viewed. The issue is “Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design”, LEED for short. LEED basically means having a “green” building.
Some of the funding we have
received and are eligible for is contingent upon having a LEED certified
building. If we don’t build a LEED building we lose some funding and it may put
the project at risk for future grants applications. A LEED building costs more
to build.
. The extra
architect fees alone are considerable.
If the hall was to cost more, could we do anything to increase the usage and thereby increase the value of the building to the community? The existing hall is being used for bingo, community suppers, socials, luncheons, that kind of thing.
Do we want to build a hall that will be used for the same thing or do we want to explore the idea of having a building that can be used for a wider variety of activities.
You are invited to attend a meeting in the hall September 25th at 7:30 PM.
The purpose of the meeting is:
- provide an update on fundraising activities and the financial position to date.
- get everyone up to date on the activities of the committee relative to the design, building
planning and fundraising process.
History of the Austin Memorial Hall.
The first Memorial Hall was built on Main St. sometime after World War 1. On Thanksgiving Day 1959, after a heavy wet snow, the roof collapsed. Members of the community at that time got together and built a new hall. It was ready for occupancy about a year and a half later, in April of 1961. Due to the efforts of a very active hall auxiliary committee, the mortgage was burned in 1965. Times have changed, everything is getting more costly, but the Community Centre Board, which is responsible for the operation of the hall and the rink, have done and continue to do an extremely admirable job in keeping the doors open and the building available for use by the residents of Austin and district.
November 12 2004
The Austin Community Hall is located at 44 -2nd Ave. It has been standing for about 40 years. Last fall an inspection revealed a structural weakness in the walls of the arch rafter building. Some important decisions had to be made. Should money be spent taking off the roof and the inner walls to inspect and possibly fix the rafters or should that money be spent toward the building of a new community centre? If a new structure was to be build, where should it be located; take down the old hall and build in the same location, build on the vacant lots on 2nd Ave. beside the existing hall, or build on the sports grounds on 1st Ave.
The Community Centre board called a public meeting for November 12th, 2004 to discuss the issue. As a result of that town meeting, a unanimous decision was made to build a new community centre. An eleven member committee was formed to investigate possible locations, designs and costs of a new building and to report back to another public meeting early in 2005. This is a very important project and speed is of the essence.
They committee has held two meetings in November. An executive has been elected. Floor plans, building design and fundraising have been discussed. An engineer has been contacted about a set of drawings to get an idea of the cost involved. A lot of money has been previously spent to put geo thermal heating into the existing hall so that will definitely be a factor. The next committee meeting is set for early December.
The committee met in early December. Fundraising is underway. Donations can be made at the credit union or by contacting any of the committee members. Donations can also be mailed in by printing off the form at this LINK and mailing it in or by using a donation form left at public locations around town. All donations are tax deductible.
January 12, 2005
The citizens of Austin and District got together on January 12th to consider the future of their community hall. In November 2004, the community learned that the present structure would be condemned in the near future unless costly repairs were undertaken to the roof. At that time a motion was passed to build a new hall and a committee was formed to investigate the design and cost of a new building. Committee chairman Chuck Manns called this public meeting to inform the community of the results of the work done by the committee . Carl Zacharias presented details of the floor plan selected by the committee. Highlights of the plan include seating for about 100 more people, a stage and a 40 person banquet/meeting room. He also presented a tentative 3D design of the outside elevations. Chuck Manns advised that the committee had priced out the building at a ballpark figure of $ 475,000.00. Regan Manns, the secretary for the committee, presented details about grant aid that may be available for this type of undertaking. Keith Jaeger discussed fund raising ideas. He stated that it would take a lot of bake sales to build this hall and that the community needed to look at some serious fundraising. Any private donations will be eligible for a tax receipt. After a question and answer period, those present voted overwhelmingly in favour of continuing with the plan to build a new hall. The hall will be built on the vacant lot to the west of the hall. With financial commitments from the local Lions Club and the Chamber of Commerce and private donations, almost $20,000.00 was raised at the meeting. Donations can be made at the Austin Credit Union or donation forms can be obtained at Austin Community Hall and from several of the local businesses.
Committee members:
| Gordon Nelson chairman | John Klassen | Cathy Painter |
| Carl Zacharias vice-chair | Abe Zacharias | Keith Jaeger |
| Loreen Amann | Neil Christoffersen | Leonard Friesen |
| Olga Dyck |