Duane Hicks
The name of the Sister Kennedy Centre here will be changing–although not all members of council are in agreement.
Council on Monday voted 4-3 in favour of changing the name of the facility to the Fort Frances Seniors Centre, and to recognize Sister Betty Kennedy for her contributions with a dedicated memory wall named in her honoured located inside the facility.
Mayor Roy said he would prefer the “Sister Kennedy Centre” name to remain.
“I have sympathy for history and I hate to see names changed within the community,” he told council.
“This was named after someone for a reason, and I think it should remain the Sister Kennedy Centre,” agreed Coun. Ken Perry.
But Coun. June Caul, who belongs to the Sister Kennedy Centre board of management and has been involved in the rebranding of the centre, said there’s a few reasons for the name change.
“In history, the story goes that Sister Betty Kennedy didn’t even want her name on that building,” she noted.
“She would be resting at peace up there if it was changed, I believe,” Coun. Caul added.
“She didn’t want that specific recognition.”
Coun. Caul noted a lot of other people also were involved in making the seniors’ centre a reality, and they have never agreed with the name “Sister Kennedy Centre.”
“It wasn’t just one person, and I’ve heard of people whose feelings have been hurt because of that,” she remarked.
“And that concerns me.”
Last but not least, the name is being changed to make it clear to the public that the centre is not affiliated with the local Catholic church, and is open to everyone age 55 and over.
“It has been the history in town that this centre is a Catholic centre, that no one else is supposed to go there except Roman Catholic citizens, and that’s still the same way today,” Coun. Caul noted.
“People do not know that it’s for everybody,” she stressed. “It’s a building that is paid for by the own of Fort Frances, owned by the Town of Fort Frances, and so on.
“So to clear the air, so that people know that it is for everybody, we wanted to change it to the Fort Frances Seniors Centre.”
Couns. Wendy Brunetta, Doug Kitowski, Paul Ryan, and Caul voted in favour of the name change, with Mayor Avis, Coun. Perry, and Coun. John Albanese voting against it.
The history of the local seniors’ centre goes back to 1978, when Sister Kennedy and several seniors created the first seniors’ drop-in centre in Fort Frances.
Known as “Pleasant Past Times Place,” it was located at the rear of the Pentecostal Church, next door to the Legion.
In July, 1981, mayor and council established a bylaw to set up a committee to establish a seniors’ drop-in centre at the old St. Mary’s School property.
This was followed by a community fundraising campaign.
In April, 1983, the building project was tendered and subsequently awarded to Tom Jones & Sons Contractors of Thunder Bay.
In October of that year, a grand opening for the centre was held and it was christened the “Sister Kennedy Centre.”
The process of rebranding was initiated earlier this year. Back in March, the centre ordered a sign reading “Fort Frances Seniors Centre” for the northwest corner of the property (Nelson Street and Victoria Avenue).
It was erected this past summer.
The name change issue was reviewed by the Sister Kennedy Centre board of management, with input from the public.
