Parish centre opens new section, renovations made to building

By Eric Bourque

THE VANGUARD

NovaNewsNow.com

An addition to the Saint Ambrose Parish Centre is part of a series of renovations that has done more than just give the centre a new place for people to gather.

Aside from building a 2,400-square-foot addition, the work included changes in other areas of the centre, changes pertaining to food service, for example, and accessibility.

“We needed to upgrade the kitchen facility for one thing,” said Father John MacPherson of St. Ambrose. “People had asking (about) that for years.”

To help make the centre more accessible, the front entrance of the building has a wheelchair lift.

The new annex, which has an exterior entrance, is connected to the second floor of the old part of the building by a pedway.

Referring to the decision to build a new section, Father MacPherson said they needed more room.

“We needed another, larger gathering (place) for people,” he said. “Some nights here, we may have two or three things going on…We needed more space.”

The renovations also included the creation of more classroom space.

Interviewed last week about the work that has been done at the centre – or which was still going on – he noted that the kitchen was pretty well done while work continued on a wheelchair accessible washroom/shower facility.

Work on the centre began late last summer.

Delmar Construction was the main contractor for the project.

Funding for the project came from various sources, including $20,000 from Nova Scotia Economic Development, $10,000 from the Department of Health Promotion and Protection and $10,000 from the Community ACCESS-Ability program.

Local parishioners did their part recently by turning out – about 40 of them, Father MacPherson said – to help clean the dust etc. caused by the construction.

A blessing ceremony for the new section of the parish centre was held June 15.