MINTO - Town of Minto council has allocated $20,000 from the community improvement program’s structural fund to help the Harriston Legion Branch fix its out-of-service elevator.
At the town’s economic development and planning committee meeting, council approved the additional $20,000 grant, noting that the additional funding will help the legion a lot.
The elevator at the Harriston Legion reached its 36-year life expectancy last May. The legion was informed that it is no longer safe to operate. This has created a significant accessibility hurdle for many of the seniors and those that are physically challenged to be able to access the upstairs hall.
As such, improvements such as the widening of the doors and lift carriage, cementing the lift wall and replacing the existing wooden support wall and electrical upgrades must be made.
In October, the town had already granted $20,000 towards the project from the same funding pool, bringing the total allocated funds to help fix the elevator to $40,000. The estimated cost of the project is $125,000 to $150,000.
The legion has applied for the Trillium grant to help with the remaining funds needed, but found that the grant was unsuccessful. So, they contacted Veterans Affairs and were told that there are no programs that their project aligns with. They have applied to the County of Wellington as well as another Government of Canada Grant.
If successful, those grants with the county and the federal government would total $27,000. This would still leave the legion having to raise $97,960.
According to Belinda Wick-Graham’s report, town’s director of economic and community development, the recent grant of $20,000 would go a long way to support this organization and the installation of the elevator.
With the approved grant, there is currently $78,350.96 remaining in the 2022 community improvement program budget for other projects.