WATER VALLEY - Excavation for the construction of a new Water Valley Community Hall began last week.
With $900,000 of the $1.1 million fundraising already in the bank, committee members decided they were close enough to start.
"The hole is starting to be dug today," said Harold Baxandall, chair of the new hall building committee of the Water Valley Community Association, last Tuesday.
"Is it soon enough? It's as soon as it can be," said Baxandall.
The structural integrity of the current hall, built in 1942, has been in question for a number of years.
Fundraising -- originally for hall renovations and in the last few years a new build -- has been ongoing for over 15 years.
In a place where Wednesday nights are about the only night of the week not booked, Baxandall said the hall serves as the community's hub.
"This ensures we have a community hall for everyone going forward," he said.
Last year, community association members voted 98 per cent in favour of replacing the hall with a new one, on the same property. Another option would have been to not build, forcing community members to use other area halls.
The current hall is home to dance, yoga, Refit, and taekwondo groups as well as the Thursday morning coffee club. The community association hosts its own events there as well, like dinners and dances and has four events that fill the hall.
The current hall has a seating capacity of about 150 and can accommodate weddings and other larger-group gatherings.
The new hall will increase seating capacity to 275.
The larger 5,620-square-foot building will feature a portable stage and a meeting room along with a storage area in the basement.
Pieces of the current building will also be incorporated into the new build including wood ceiling planking.
The foyer of the new hall will feature the same plaques detailing past funders currently on display in the hall.
"It will pay tribute to our community and those who made the old hall possible," said Baxandall.
Despite construction now beginning, the community association still has $200,000 to raise to complete the building as designed.
Baxandall said more fundraisers and requests for donations are planned in the hope of achieving the association's final goal of $1.1 million by next spring.
The new hall is expected to be operational by April.
"We already have two tentative bookings for next year," he said.
A groundbreaking ceremony was held July 20 along with a community dinner to kick-start the build.
Nathan Cooper, the Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills constituency MLA and Patricia McKean, Division 2 Mountain View County councillor, joined association president Carol Shumski and Baxandall in the sod-turning ceremony.
The provincial government gave the association a $600,000 Community Facility Enhancement Program grant while Mountain View County contributed $50,000 towards the new building.
The rest has been raised through individual and corporate donations as well as fundraisers like the annual stud auction, calendar sales and bottle drives.
