A fundraising initiative in Priddis that would see a multi-purpose built in the hamlet is relying on the community to make it a reality.
Residents of Priddis and surrounding area hope to replace the hamlet’s old school building with a building that would include programming space for classes and preschool, a small library, and dressing rooms for skaters and hockey players to suit up before hitting the outdoor rink. The former schoolhouse once housed the hamlet’s post office.
Initially, the building would have included a post office as its anchor resident. After months of community fundraising that brought in more than $12,000, Canada Post pulled out of Priddis. The Priddis Community Association, residents and businesses banded together to raise the money and arranged a temporary location in the hamlet’s strip mall, but Canada Post announced in February it was unable to staff the outlet. The nearest postal outlet is now in Silverado, at the southwest end of Calgary.
Ed Osborne, president of the Priddis Community Association was disappointed to lose the post office after all the work done by the community. He said the $12,000 was largely spent on rent and renovating the mall space before Canada Post left. Some of the funds were able to carry forward to the next project.
“We were able to move ahead with the open house with that initial contribution in place, to get our drawings done so people could see what the concept was,” said Osborne.
Now, the plan is to continue raising an estimated $950,000 for the construction of the building. Osborne said there will be auctions and fundraising dinners within the next couple of years, in addition to taking donations directly from area residents who want to see the project succeed.
Gift-in-kind donations such as lumber or labour will also be accepted, he said, though the association would rather not collect construction materials until work is underway, which could be two or three years down the road.
“We need the time to raise the funds and get the right design,” said Osborne. “It’s a lot more difficult to run a project on the basis of peoples’ charity. If you build something you don’t want it to look like an eyesore for years, so we want to put together enough financing so it would be from the ground to lock up all at once.”
He said an open house to look at conceptual drawings drew a crowd of more than 150 people, and the input was all very promising. There are a lot of ideas and some pretty passionate people, said Osborne.
“There’s quite a few aspects of the project that are an opportunity to build community spirit and a sense of accomplishment and working together,” he said.
A multi-purpose building would allow the community to have programs for less than the cost of commercial space rental, which would make them more accessible for people, he said.
To make planning efforts easier, the working group has been divided into separate fundraising and building committees, he said.
MD Coun. Suzanne Oel, who worked with the association to accommodate Canada Post before it exited the hamlet, said she’s happy to continue helping residents achieve their goal of opening a multi-purpose building.
“It’s exciting to see our two different committees on the go,” said Oel. “I’m sitting on both of them right now, helping them to get direction and any support we can give them from the municipal point of view. They’re working on this with enthusiasm, and it’s very exciting to be a part of it.”
She said many residents on the committees have professional backgrounds and a list of skills to bring to the table, which is promising during the planning stages.
Despite the amount of experience sitting at the committee tables, the groups are both taking thoughts from the community and putting together a mindful budget and a plan that includes the wants and needs of residents, said Oel.
“There’s this idea of still providing a comprehensive activity level for residents,” he said. “It’s exciting to see all these residents working together to wanting to be a part of this community. They want to do things together locally, and that’s the wonderful part.”
