Federal, provincial funding announced for school community centre

This includes $1,570,000 from the federal government ($800,000 from the Department of Canadian Heritage, $770,000 from the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency).

Tuesday’s announcement included a $765,000 contribution from the Nova Scotia government.

Contributing to the province’s share are the Office of Acadian Affairs, Service Nova Scotia and Municipal Relations and the Department of Community Services, which provided a loan.

The education department “provided in-kind support with space in the school,” according to the release issued in conjunction with Tuesday’s announcement.

Representatives of the federal and provincial governments were on hand to make the announcement, which was made in the Par-en-Bas cafeteria.

From Ottawa were Pierre Lemieux, parliamentary secretary for official languages, and Senator Gerald Comeau, on behalf of Peter MacKay, the minister responsible for ACOA.

Acadian Affairs Minister (and local MLA) Chris d’Entremont was on hand to announce the provincial funding.

The centre will include a 300-seat theatre, an art gallery, pre-school and office space.

Garian Construction is the project’s contractor.

The proposal for such a centre goes back to 2001 or so and the plan is for the facility to open in 2009.

A community fundraising effort will seek to generate $350,000, $85,000 of which already has been raised.

“We’re off to a good start (with the money to be raised at the community level),” said Allister Surette, co-chair (with Stan Surette) of the project committee.

The committee will be looking for financial support from individuals, businesses and foundations.

Officials who spoke during Tuesday’s event cited the various funding sources that have contributed to the project, including the three local municipal units.

They noted too the work done by the South West Shore Development Authority in getting the project off the ground and the involvement – crucial to the project becoming a reality – of the Conseil scolaire acadien provincial.

Representatives of the three local municipal governments, SWSDA and the CSAP were among those on hand for Tuesday’s announcement.

“Schools are at the heart of our communities, so it makes sense to enrich the Acadian and francophone community of the Municipality of Argyle by adding this facility to Ecole secondaire de Par-en-Bas,” said d’Entremont. “Having a place where people in our community can gather and where our children can grow up in a supportive Acadian environment is important for ensuring our language and culture thrive.”