BEAVER BANK: In the month since the Beaver Bank Kinsac Community Centre (BBKCC) burnt to the ground, work has begun in earnest to rebuild the heart of the community through a fundraising drive.
District 2 Councillor Barry Dalrymple said some of those fundraising efforts have seen the business community step up and show their support, with three separate fundraisers having raised almost $5,000 for the project.
A live on-air benefit auction, hosted by FX 101.9 FM radio in Halifax, held Oct. 2, raised $3,070 while Cars R Us and Trucks R Us, in Sackville, donated $100 for every car sold during the week of Oct. 5-10, which raised a total of $1,800. The third fundraiser saw Sobeys on Sackville drive donate monies from customers who topped up their orders to the rebuild fund.
“They all came to the centre volunteer board with the offer,” Dalrymple said of the fundraising offers. “There are lots and lots of examples of these kinds of fundraisers taking place. People are really pitching in, but not only from Beaver Bank.”
When the building was destroyed by a raging fire Sept. 23, it affected Carr’s Tae Kwon Do, the Beaver Bank Keeners Senior Association, the Community Policing Office, a daycare, not to mention the numerous community events and bookings, like weddings, that were scheduled and had to be quickly re-arranged for another location. The cause of the fire was to be released Oct. 23, however fire officials were delaying that until they had all the information before releasing the cause publicly.
Dalrymple received an e-mail from the Harbour East Community councillors, which are the four or five HRM councillors from the Dartmouth area, saying they are considering making a donation from their capital funds towards the fundraising drive. District 16 Councillor Debbie Hum has already done the same.
He noted the contract to cleanup the debris at the site was awarded when the tender closed Oct. 23.
Dalrymple said the next objective is to see exactly the damage to the firewall, which separated the adjacent fire hall from the centre and is pointed to as why the fire bays went pretty much unscathed by the blaze.
“If the firewall is okay, the cleanup can go ahead on one side, while we can start getting the fire bays operational so the trucks can move inside,” Dalrymple said. “We think it is okay. I think its done its job and is structurally okay.
“It certainly makes things a lot easier if that wall is structurally sound.”
He said if the fire wall isn’t okay, the volunteer group will have to re-evaluate things.
“If the wall isn’t good, then we lose some, if not all, of the fire bays,” Dalrymple said.
Dalrymple explained two residents, Sue and Keith McLearn, have stepped up to take on the task as the fundraising leaders for the centre.
“They have a wonderful slate of ideas to do over the next year,” he said. “That aspect is going really well.”
One of those includes a voluntary road toll scheduled for Nov. 14, from 9 a.m. – 6 p.m., at Dartmouth Crossing. The owners of Dartmouth Crossing have generously offered to allow the centre to setup the road toll, which has the potential to be a huge fundraiser for the BBKCC rebuild fund. For the fundraiser to go ahead there is a requirement of about 40 people to cover three shifts of six at each point throughout Dartmouth Crossing. Anyone interested is asked to contact Laurie by e-mail at mc@accesswave.ca or by phone at 865-5511.
Dalrymple said HRM has setup a tax receiptable account and those interested can get in touch with him or anyone on the centre’s board. The centre can now issue fully registered tax receipts for donations to the rebuild fund.
“We’re still working on and planning on getting all of the programs from there re-located,” he said.
The board members are working with those who had events booked at the centre in the coming months to help in finding new locations. That includes working out details for the communities Nov. 11, Remembrance Day Ceremony, which is traditionally held at the cenotaph located in front of the centre.
“Obviously, we can’t go close to the building because it’s damaged, but the cenotaph is on that property so we’re working on some issues. Hopefully, we’ll have it resolved soon. Certainly, we still want to have the Remembrance Day ceremony there, it’s just a matter of if we need to have it at the school next door or somewhere else. We’re still working that out, but are making fabulous progress.”
Dalrymple had no doubt the outlying communities would come together in Beaver Bank’s time of need. Among that gratitude was the Keeners craft fair, which was moved to the Lakeside-Windsor Junction-Fall River (LWF) Community Hall and the Oct. 31, Halloween Dance, which was re-located to the Springfield Lake Hall.
“I’m really proud of all the surrounding communities and the response they have given,” he said. “To be honest, I knew they would.”
phealey@enfieldweeklypress.com