Great progress is being made on the Standard Hall and they are aiming to be able to cut the ribbon early in the new year.
The community has been working hard to make the hall a reality and broke ground in the summer.
According to Ron Corbiell building project chair, the bulk of the exterior work on the hall is complete. Inside the insulation work in the ceiling and the walls are complete and the electrical is about 80 per cent.
“By the end of December we're going to be pretty close,” said Corbiell. “By the time they do the finishing touches and painting, and the floor, we're probably looking at late January or February.”
He said while they have had a few delays because of the weather they have made great progress and he is very happy with the contractor.
The Hall Association sent a letter to supporters in late November updating their progress. The committee hoped to have 80 per cent of the funds in place before they commenced work, but it became apparent that access to funds would not be available unless construction had begun. They are waiting on a number of grants from the county as well as the provincial government. The Lions club has also been generous, and the group has a casino coming up. They are still looking at more fundraising.
Last weekend the Standard Lions hosted their annual Dinner and Auction and are planning to dedicate all the funds raised to the hall.
Brett Gates, a Standard Lion, said the evening grossed more than $97,000, and he expects they will clear about $88,000 to put towards the hall. While it was not the best ever, it was better than last year’s event.
Some of the top items included the traditional chrome shovel, which fetched $8,000 and was purchased by Getz and Associates of Strathmore. Tervita purchased center-ice logo rights for the Standard Arena for $3,000. The retail items alone fetched more than $40,000.
The hall, when completed, will have a state of the art kitchen and banquet seating for about 350.
