Chipman increasing hall rental fees

BY JANA SEMENIUK

The Village of Chipman council has voted in favour of increasing their National Hall rental fees for the first time in nearly 20 years.

The decision was made during the regular council meeting on Apr. 11 and increased hall rental fee from $200 to $300.

Mayor Morris Langevin said the increase was mainly to cover rising utility costs, while administrative assistant Keiron Willis said rentals of the hall itself have also been increasing.

“We’ve increased our rentals quite a bit. We’ve had a lot of birthday parties, but not very many weddings,” she said.

Councilor Trudy Smith said the Chipman Players, a drama group who put on dinner and play events at the hall, have brought many people through the facility increasing their exposure.

“I think when people are coming for the (Chipman) Players they come from all over the place, not just locally, they (can) see how pretty the hall is. There’s a kitchen downstairs, which is an actual commercial kitchen, so that makes a huge difference.

It’s downstairs so you don’t have to move tables around and you have enough for upstairs and downstairs,” she said.

The council also agreed to leave currently booked events at the old rate and the new rate will apply to new bookings.

The Chipman National Hall was built in 1932.