Community hall to get much-needed upgrades

Thanks in part to funding received through a provincial grant, the village of Dorchester will soon begin the upgrading of St. Edward's Hall.
During Monday's council meeting, Mayor Mel Goodland reported that the village had recently received confirmation that it will be receiving funding of up to $13,000 to assist with upgrading and repairs.
He noted the village is responsible for matching that funding for the project, either in actual funds or in-kind contributions such as for labour.
"There's a lot that we want to do with the hall, to make it more accessible and more convenient for public use," Mayor Mel Goodland said at Monday's regular village council meeting.
"We want to upgrade the electrical wiring and the washrooms, have a wheelchair-accessible entry into the basement and take the non-code wallboard off the basement and install proper material on that," he said.
"Those are just some of things we hope to do."
Goodland explained that the initiative is actually a three-phase project that will be proceeding over the next three years.
"This is the first year and we've been approved for funding; however, because we received notification approval just this week we'll have to get things going right away because the grant requires us to have the work completed before the end of our fiscal year, which is Dec. 31," Goodland explained.
The village of Dorchester purchased the former St. Edward's Roman Catholic Church building, located at 4955 Main Street, from the diocese of Moncton for $1 after the closure of the church in May 2002. Since that time the building has been used by both the village and various local groups and organizations to hold numerous functions.
"It's our intention to refurbish the building to make it more accessible and appealing for rental to local groups, which would in turn make the building more self-sustainable," noted Coun. Robert Corkerton.