GREENSTONE — The municipal council in Greenstone has officially approved costs related to repairing and upgrading community centres in Longlac, Nakina, and Beardmore.
Just weeks ago, Premier Doug Ford and Northern Development Minister Greg Rickford appeared in Greenstone to announce funding grants from the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation (NOHFC) allotted to the municipality and several local, Indigenous organizations for major developments and community improvements.
Now, with the numbers crunched and a plan finalized, Greenstone council has approved a repair itinerary and timeline that should see all work completed by 2025.
A total of $1.5 million in NOHFC funding is being put towards the community centres.
While the funding received from NOHFC covers a little over half of the expenses for community centre repairs and upgrades, the municipality is set to cover the other half — allocating just over $416,000 from their 2024 tax supported capital budget and another $673,000 from their 2025 capital budget levy.
“The big things are the compressors, the condensers, major inner workings for the arenas and the curling clubs — and each of the facilities has an arena and a curling club,” said Mayor James McPherson. “So it’s not one compressor, it’s two of everything, for each of [the centres]… because we are so far apart and we are originally four communities that were put together, that had these facilities.”
The Longlac Sportsplex was part of the focus at Greenstone’s council meeting on Oct. 23 as a report from director of public services Brian Aaltonen outlined the need for a specific silicone spray product to be used in upgrades and repairs to the roof.
In 2022, the municipality engaged with an engineering consultant to design and reconstruct the roof system at the Sportsplex.
“We did the request for a proposal and we’ve received quotes for the different types of [material]… to redo the roof on the Longlac Sportsplex,” said McPherson. “And, in discussion with the supplier, they’re saying, ‘yes, for that price you can get this, though for this price’ – which was approximately an additional $75,000 – ‘you can get a roofing system that is far superior.’”
The project team consisting of the consultant, a roofing contractor, and public service department staff have identified EPDM (ethylene-propylene-diene-terpolymer) as the material best-suited for use in completing roof repairs.
EPDM is a highly durable, synthetic rubber roofing membrane that purportedly has a long lifespan and is particularly suitable for use in the northern climate.
“I think it makes perfect sense,” said Coun. Elaine Mannisto. “If it can save the structure in the long term, instead of potential short term, I think it’ll be better money spent than buying the cheap option that creates more problems down the road.”
“When you step back and you say, ‘are we going to spend significant dollars?’ We should spend good dollars… and make it so that it will last for the future,” said McPherson.
The mayor notd that with “everything needing to get fixed at the same time” it is especially imperative that the work that they do will prolong the life of the roof and, thus, prolong the life of the entire facility.
Next July, the Longlac Sportsplex is set to celebrate 50 years of serving the community.
“You have to have a plan and that plan has to be long-term,” said McPherson.