The Devlin Community Hall in La Vallee, Ont. will get more than $250,000 from the province to fund renovations, keeping the local event venue running for years to come, Kenora-Rainy River MPP Greg Rickford announced on Feb. 12.
The investment comes from the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation (NOHFC), which has invested over $1 billion towards almost 8,100 projects in Northern Ontario since 2018.
“This hall is old,” Rickford said. “It’s got a lot of tradition and history, it’s the heartbeat of the community and we’re big fans. We’ve been here before for some renovations, but they realized that the building needed more.”
“When I was the chairman of the Heritage Fund, we actually made it that for these smaller townships with a lower tax base, we would cover 90 per cent of the costs,” Rickford said. “If they’re on budget, they’re only paying 10 per cent but if they go over budget, it’s likely that the 10 per cent is such a low touch that they can afford the overage.”
Minister of Northern Economic Development and Growth George Pirie said in a press release that helping La Vallee with renovation efforts to its community hall, residents are ensured a place where they can host events close to home. “A strong sense of community is essential to people’s well-being, which is why our government continues to support projects like this across Northern Ontario.”
The community hall is used for a wide scope of events. Weddings, birthdays, everyday socializing and a variety of local parties and celebrations are regularly seen in the hall. During elections, it is also used as a polling station for the area.
The renovations are scheduled to be completed by March 15, but the timeline is dependent on how quickly materials can be shipped and new tasks that arise as construction continues.
“It’s a big job,” renovation crew foreman Richard Wieringa said. “There was no vapour barrier, so we had to remove all the old insulation, do a spray full insulation, and reinstall new insulation on top of that, just to seal it up and make sure we don’t have any moisture transfer happening.”
Wieringa said flooring materials are being shipped from Europe, causing them to face delays in the process so far. “We need to get the flooring for the bathrooms, get those installed. Then if they want to open up, they could do that and we come back and install the rest of the flooring.”
