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Vol.15 No.45
Pelham’s independent news source from the Heart of Niagara
The
VOICE
Win with Seaway Page 3
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Need a Home Page 12
Taking Flight Page 7
Lions looking to trade acreage with Town BY SARAH MURRELL VOICE Staff A new hall for the Fenwick Lions, a permanent home for Pelham Cares, a general purpose room and meeting room for community use, an auditorium, a canteen and patio - it all adds up to be just a little bigger than the land the Fenwick Lions own at Centennial Park. It’s a problem that hasn’t hampered the Lions plans for a new community centre in Fenwick, however. The Fenwick Lions and Lioness packed council chambers on Monday, Jan. 16 to hear Lion Michael Hunter present the group’s solution to their land problem to Pelham Town Council. That solution. Swapping the Lionowned land in the park for the town-owned land currently home to Diamond #1. “It’s a project we’ve been working on for a long time,” Hunter told councillors. The current Lions hall at Centennial Park was originally a tool shed at Atlas Steel that was moved to the property in 1950. In 1967 the Lions donated land to the town for Pelham’s Centennial Project - creating Centennial
Park. Since then, Hunter said, the active Fenwick Lions group has grown and is now outgrowing the original hall. “We need a little more room,” he said. Hunter outlined the Lions plans for a new community centre at Centennial Park which would encompass a
“The property we have will never accommodate such a project.” - Hunter new meeting hall for the Fenwick Lions as well as space for community use and the permanent home for Pelham Cares, which would include office space and a warehouse, totalling 15,000 square feet. “That is what we would like to do,” said Hunter. “The property we have will never accommodate such a project.” Hunter went on to explain the swapping of land offers benefits to the Town as well as to the Lions. If the town owned
the acre parcel at the northern most end of the park there could be 100’ more of parking lot and room to increase the road allowance and make the park easier to access with a two-lane driveway. “We see it as being a win/win,” said Hunter. Hunter said the Lions would like to begin negotiations on the terms of the land transfer with the town. The Fenwick Lions are currently finalizing an application for charitable status as the Lions Community Centre Charitable Trust. Once both of those issues have been dealt with, Hunter said the group will begin fundraising and create a building design. In response to a question from Councillor Peter Papp, Hunter said the Lions are currently having the two pieces of property evaluated and will be creating a business case. Councillors voted in favour of a motion to accept Hunter’s information and refer his request to staff for a report on the details of the exchange and a recommendation. Acting CAO Craig Larmour informed council his intention is to provide a report
with an update on negotiations and follow up with a report and recommendation by June. This isn’t the first time the Fenwick Lions have approached the town regarding the construction of a community centre at Centennial Park. The club made a presentation to council
several years ago seeking a partnership to build a new Lions hall and community centre, similar to what the club is planning now. In that proposal, the Lions committed to giving their land for the centre, providing a set amount of funding per year for operation, and donating the funds they had raised
to that point to the construction of the hall. The partnership proposal was not accepted by the town at that time. This year the Lions are looking to build the centre on their own, without town partnership, aside from the trade of land.
SAFE PELHAM
FIREFIGHTERS of Station #3 Short Hills, represented by Dave Kszan (left), president of the Station #3 firefighters association, and Captain Jack Junkin, accepted a $10,000 cheque from Enbridge Pipelines‘s Ken Hall, Advisory, Community Relations, and Henry Timmins, from Enbridge Gas Distributing, as part of the community’s Safe Communities Program. The porgram provides grants to first responders in communities where Enbridge facilities exist to ensure they have the equipment, training and skills needed to keep the communities safe. The donation will be used to outfit the station’s Kubota off-road vehicle, which was purchased through fundraising by Station 3 firefighters, to make it better equipped for remote rescues. Sarah Murrell/Voice Photo
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