The Alma Optimist Club, Mapleton council and residents of Alma finally received the News they were waiting for last Friday.
On June 5 the federal and provincial governments announced the township would receive over $1-million in funding to be put towards the cost of a new community hall in Wallace Cumming Park.
The township and the Optimist Club will split the remaining third of the total cost of $1,561,700.
Perth-Wellington MP Gary Schellenberger and MPP John Wilkinson called the announcement an example of great collaboration between the municipal, provincial and federal governments.
“During times of global economic turmoil, people expect all three levels of government to work together in partnership,” said Wilkinson.
“There is no better time to invest in jobs today while building the foundation for a better future.”
The township signed a 10-year hall agreement with the Alma Optimist Club several months ago, but Mayor John Green said without the funding the project likely would have taken three years to complete. Now it can proceed “almost immediately,” he added.
“The Alma hall has been a centre of that community for many organizations for 30 years or more,” Green said on Tuesday. “It outlived its use.”
The new, one-storey hall will be approximately 7,300 square feet in size and include a large hall (2,600 square feet), meeting room (650 square feet), kitchen, bathrooms and storage.
Under the hall agreement, the township will maintain ownership of the hall and property, with a committee – composed of representatives from the township, its parks committee and the Optimist Club – overseeing its day-to-day operation, including bookings, cleaning, heat and electrical bills, routine maintenance, interior furnishings and rules and budgets for the hall.
