If you don’t want Belfountain’s historical Community Hall to be stomped, then here’s the dust-swirling, heart-throbbing, yippee-kye-yay way to say NO WAY:
Show up mid-afternoon next Saturday (Aug. 22) in the green meadow opposite the Caledon Ski Club at the liveliest ‘Under The Maples’ blues festival ever to strum through these Caledon hills. Your forty-dollar entry ticket ‘parkinâs free!’ is gonna garner you the famed gallop of Stompin’ Tom’s original band and a host of other high-kickin’ blues stars.
And it’s gonna corral for all of us a salvaged future for our deteriorated heritage Hall built way back 122 years ago.
Caledon Council voted August 11 to invest $216,393 on ‘minimum maintenance repairs’ for the Hall – mainly to install a $35,000 septic system, fix up the floor structure for another $35,000 and spend $74,393 for a new roof and trusses.
Until now, the Hall operated at a loss of nearly a thousand dollars a month. But under the new plan, the OPP intends to pay rent and establish a satellite police station in the Hall this fall.
The ‘minimum’ repairs voted through by Council don’t allow for amenities and decor So the Belfountain Community Organization (BCO) will pour all profit generated from the Under the Maples festivities into upgrades.
The Hall was closed March 3 until the snow melted and has now re-opened until the snow flies again, says Tom Darlow, facility manager for Caledon Public Works.
‘The facility is a compact frame building with no particular architectural style,’ states the Public Works report that Darlow presented to Council. This is because the original building was just a single-storey wooden structure built and operated by the Belfountain Mechanics’ Institute. Those were the days of the great quarry-works when a thousand workers hewed the stone that built Toronto.
Then, in 1931 the Hall was jacked up while a concrete block first floor was installed underneath along with an electrical system. A quarter century later money was raised for a kitchen extension and two downstairs toilets. Finally in 1973 Caledon took over the building.
Now it’s your turn, yours and mine. So please, round up your friends and mosey up to the Under the Maples jamboree to have a stompin’ good time while your money goes to a great cause.
The stage will be a hay wagon, there’ll be food, refreshments and a beer tent featuring Steamwhistle. Tickets are $40 at Ticketpro.ca, or buy direct at Higher Ground in Belfountain or the General Store in Inglewood and save the handling fee. Tickets can also be bought at the gate.
This is a fund-raising concert hosted by the Belfountain Community Organization to support community environmental initiatives.
For all details see: Belfountain Music Under the Maples/
Our congrats to the Belfountain community and our OPP for helping save our heritage.