Council will apply for a $30,000 grant from Northern Development Initiative Trust for upgrades to the Community Hall.
The upgrades will cost $50,000 and is expected to be completed in 2016. To make up the shortfall, the District will allocate $20,000 to the Community Hall Revitalization project in next year's budget. This is also a necessary step as the NDIT's grant has a maximum of $30,000.
“This building was chosen because it's a building that needs some upgrades,” Mayor Shane Brienen said. “We looked at it last year, we had an inspection done on the building to check out the lifespan of it because council was concerned that we didn't want to put money into a building that may not last, but it looks like it's got a pretty good lifespan yet.”
“It is fairly well-used in the community and we'd like to keep it up to date and running as we try to do with all our buildings.”
District chief administrative officer Michael D. Glavin mentioned in his report to council that the District is looking into the areas for improvements.
“The specific components of what will be included in the project are currently being evaluated by staff but will likely address issues related to the roof, lighting and/or acoustic upgrades,” it read.
The deadline for applications is Nov. 13 and results will be released in January.
This year, Houston Hikers has received funding from this grant that went towards developing the Mt. Harry Davis mountain bike trails.