No plans right now to do anything with community hall in Nobleton
By Bill Rea

The community hall in Nobleton is special to many in the community, despite some concerns over such matters as accessibility.

And those concerns increased last week when stories started making the rounds that it could be reverted to simply a storage facility for the municipality.

The thought was mentioned, almost in passing, at last Monday's council session to discuss the Township's capital budget. Councillor Jeff Laidlaw was quick to react the following day, issuing an e-mail, stating that's not what he figured residents of the village had in mind.

"During the election campaign it was made clear that, despite repeated requests over a number of years, maintenance to the roof had not been undertaken," Laidlaw stated in his e-mail last Tuesday. "In yesterday's meeting (the) Township made reference to the difficulty of converting this building for accessibility, and alluded to the inadequacy of the kitchen."

The capital budget proposals, which Township staff have put forward, set no money aside for work on the building this year, but the 10-year forecast calls for an expenditure of $12,450 in 2008. These are only recommendations at this point, and are pending the approval of council.

Parks, Recreation and Culture Director Catherine Purcell said that money is to cover fire safety measures.

"There's no decision made," Purcell declared, addressing the storage issue. "There was just discussion of the issues surrounding the budget this year."

"There's no change in the status of the hall," she said.

Laidlaw maintained the storage idea would not sit well with many in the village.

"It's my sense that the people of town don't really want it," he commented. "They want it left as a community hall."

He added that he was aware of one group that tried to rent space in the hall for a summer program, and was told the space wouldn't be available because it would be used for storage.

Not so, Purcell said. She explained that at the time, they weren't sure if the fire prevention measures, involving the roof, were going to be slated for this year. Since the program involved children, staff didn't think it was appropriate for them to be around that activity, especially since new space is expected to be available in the nearby arena complex.

Laidlaw also wondered how moves like this could be taken without input from user groups, especially the Nobleton Lions and the Women's Institute. Both groups regularly hold their meetings in the hall. The WI is planning to meet this week, and Laidlaw is expected to address the group.

"We're not sure what's going on," commented Lions Club president Alan Scott. "We don't want to change our meeting place."

Nothing has been decided in that direction, Mayor Margaret Black pointed out.

"It's status quo at this point," she stated. "There's certainly no indication that it will ever be used for storage."

Accessibility is one of the issues of concern with the hall, although Laidlaw said there might be ways to get around those problems.

"Every community across Ontario is going to face several questions in terms of handling preservation," he remarked.