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Ness Creek fixed-roof venue nearly ready for winter use

Jun 28, 2018 | 12:00 PM

An important milestone in the construction of the Jack Millikin Centre at Ness Creek, near Big River, will be reached in the coming months

A $70,000 donation from the Co-op Community Spaces Program will go towards electrical and insulation work, so the fixed-roof facility can be ready for use as an all-year venue, starting this winter. So far about $500,000 in funding and in-kind work from various private, corporate, and community donors has been channeled into the project, which will create a multi-use centre at the popular home of numerous festivals.

“We live where we work, and the Community Spaces Program is a good chance for some of those smaller areas to be part of funding important projects,” Cara Stelmaschuk, director of marketing for Lake Country Co-op, told paNOW. “When we all come together – like Co-ops do – there can be quite a pool of money to draw from.”

The Ness Creek site plays host to four music festivals, two music camps, and an art camp among other events each year. The new facility will allow for expanded programming and will be used as a dance hall, classroom, workshop venue, art studio, performance space, and banquet hall.

“The Ness Creek site has been used for about 30 years for a variety of non-profit programming, but until recently that’s been restricted to when the weather is nice,” Carlie Letts, Jack Millikin Centre executive director, told paNOW. “The Co-op funding will help us make the venue usable through winter.”

Letts said fundraising efforts continue, and about $200,000 more is still required to do all the finishing work, including the purchase and installation of a commercial kitchen.

“This space will be beautiful, “she said.

 

glenn.hicks@jpbg.ca

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