Metis settlement getting community centre

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The people of the Elizabeth Metis Settlement have something to celebrate, and a brand-new building in which to hold their celebrations.

The community of approximately 750, located just south of Grand Centre in northeastern Alberta, will soon see completion of a new community centre.

Richard Blyan is chairman of the Elizabeth Metis settlement. Blyan said the new hall will be a "vital, important building for our community. It's good. The members seem to be quite happy with it."

He said the new building will be getting a lot of use, with everything from community meetings and workshops to weddings and wakes expected to be held in the new hall.

They have been without a community centre since July of 1998, when their previous centre was destroyed by a fire. According to Richard Wells, public works director for the settlement, the old building burned when a concession booth located on the side of the building caught fire, and the fire spread to the community centre.

Construction on the new building began last fall, and is scheduled for completion by mid-February.

Since the fire, Wells explained, the community has been holding events in the school gymnasium and in the parish hall. According to Wells, some programs have had to be cancelled because of a shortage of space.

The new community centre is located on the site of the previous one, but is bigger than the old building.

The building consists of a hall, with a senior citizens' drop-in centre on one side, a feature that was not part of the old hall. The community centre also boasts another new feature-a complete commercial kitchen.

The seniors of the community are pleased they are getting their first permanent drop-in centre. "They will have their own space now," Blyan said. He said their previous meeting spaces were in portable trailers or in spaces shared by other programs, and the location was changed often.

Blyan explained the settlement will also be able to purchase furnishings and equipment for the new hall, thanks to a newly awarded community enhancement grant of $125,000 that will go towards the project.

Wells said the settlement has managed to pay for construction of the centre without having to do any fund-raising. He said a portion of the cost of construction was covered by some of the fire insurance money, and the remainder came out of the settlement's reserve funds, or was included in their budget.

Ann Davies is community services director for the Elizabeth Metis settlement. The old building "was kind of the focal point for the community," she said, and losing it was a shock for them for a while following the fire.

"We really missed it," she said, adding that all of their people are anxiously awaiting the new community centre's opening.

"To me, it's a building we should really be proud of," she said.

Although losing their central meeting place was difficult for the residents, they did manage to find locations after the old building was destroyed in which to provide most of the programs that had been held in the community centre. Davies said programs such as Girl Guides, Brownies and karate have managed to find alternative spaces to meet in the interim.

Davies said the settlement will probably start holding general and special meetings in the new hall, once that is completed. Since the old building burned, the meetings have been held in either the school gym or the parish hall.

Lydia Cardinal is one of the council members on the Elizabeth Metis settlement.

Cardinal said the loss of the old community centre had a great effect on the people there.

"It affected the whole community. We've have nothing on in terms of community events," she said. She added that once the new community centre is completed those activities will start up again.

With the opening close at hand, talk has already begun within the settlement about holding some cultural events.

Cardinal said the members are anxious for the new building to open.

At press time, plans had yet to be completedfor the official opening of the community centre, but Blyan said he hoped they would hold their first general meeting in the new building this month.