Miners Hall Renovations Scheduled -- Hall will be Closed for Much of 2016
By kathy moore
The City of Rossland is pleased to announce we are finalizing plans for the major renovation of our historic Miner’s Union Hall. The Hall, which is an important community treasure, is in serious need of significant repairs. The City has $335k in a reserve fund for this project, and the Rossland Council for Arts and Culture (RCAC) has been awarded a grant for $350k from the Columbia Basin Trust to help restore the heritage site and increase its longevity and functionality.
Both the City and the RCAC have applied for a number of additional grants to cover the significant costs involved, as the full cost of the project is estimated at over one million dollars. The renovations will include re-doing the roof, siding, painting, and windows, as well as creating a completely new community space on the fourth floor. The RCAC is actively seeking additional funding to restore the façade to its original grandeur and reconfigure the exterior entry plaza.
The construction site at Miner’s Union Hall presents unique challenges because of the steep hillside location. With no accessible outdoor working space, managing dust and debris control, worker coordination, erecting scaffolding, and materials and tool storage is extremely complex. Removing old construction material will also be challenging.
The Miner’s Union Hall is heavily used by the City’s recreation programs, the Pottery Society, RCAC concerts and other functions, dances, fundraisers, Ilo’s Playschool, the Gold Fever Follies, Joe Hill Coffeehouse, and many other events. These programs will be temporarily impacted by this renovation.
After carefully considering users’ health and safety, the liability issues, and the significant costs required to maintain occupancy during construction, the City has decided to close the building during construction. The project is estimated to start February 1, 2016 and be completed by December 2016. City staff will work closely with key Hall user groups to find alternate venues.
While the City understands the short-term inconvenience to users, in the long term, the Miner’s Union Hall will be greatly improved and offer much more to the community. The renovation work is essential to maintain our heritage site and restore it to its original glory.
If you have questions contact Mayor Kathy Moore 250-521-1500. Regular updates will be provided in the Council Connects Newsletter as the project progresses.
