The group that calls itself HUB has come to an agreement with School District 74 over use of the old Ashcroft Elementary School and has taken possession.
“We have signed a lease and are now working to write up contracts and rates for user groups,” says the group’s president, Juanita Little.
“We’re hoping to get groups in soon,” she says, “at least in to use the gym. We are going in this week to look and see what cleaning we need to get done.”
At its Sept. 14 meeting, Ashcroft Council agreed to ask its staff to clarify which area the Society would require be plowed with each snowfall; and to have the Public Works Foreman prepare an estimate on the time required to clear the parking lot.
In their Aug. 24 presentation to Council, HUB advised asked Council to act as a supporting partner in future grant applications; approve their grant in aid application of $500; and provide an in kind donation by guaranteeing the removal of snow from the parking lot at the facility. In return the village could store plowed snow in a corner of the parking lot.
Administration advised Council that the Village does not currently provide snow clearing services to any non-government facility and there would have to be discussions regarding the cost to the taxpayer and the time frame or urgency to clear the parking lot.
The HUB Society is a group made up of local volunteers who want to see the building kept in use by the community. The group’s mandate is to keep the doors of the building open, to provide accessible, affordable space for clubs, groups and small entrepreneurs and support programming or events that build social connectedness through opportunities in wellness, recreation and the arts.
Little said the group will work in stages to make the entire building available to the community as they work with the school district to develop the terms of the lease. The first stage (Sept. 2015-Dec. 2016) is to make the gym available for the current user groups who will be displaced come September. Several local user groups used the gym regularly before the school was closed this year.