Plans to build a new community pavilion at the former South Slocan schoolhouse site are moving forward, with the Regional District of Central Kootenay seeking another $350,000 to help fund construction.
The RDCK board approved an application to Columbia Basin Trust’s GATHER Grant Program at its Oct. 22 meeting.
Project manager Carolyn Hogan told directors the next step is to put the project out to tender.
“At this point, we’ve already completed the design phase of this project. We’ve received all permitting,” Hogan said. “Through the winter, we would put out a tender application and have contractors bid on the work.”
The project has an estimated construction budget of $508,200. The RDCK has identified $209,400 in other funding sources, including Community Works funds, reserves, smaller grants and community fundraising.
If the full CBT grant is approved, the total funding identified would reach $559,400.
The pavilion would be built on the site of the former schoolhouse, which was demolished in late 2023 after the aging building became too costly to maintain.
Built in 1917 and expanded in the mid-1930s, the school operated as an elementary school until 1977. The RDCK purchased the property in 1987, and the building later served as a multi-purpose community gathering space.
The community formed the Old South Slocan Schoolhouse Working Group to help bring a new gathering space to the site, with an emphasis on preserving the history and culture of the former building.
During Thursday’s meeting, Area A director Gary Jackman asked whether the $18,000 allocated for project management could be covered by the grant and whether the work might be contracted out to free up RDCK staff for other projects.
“There’s a lot of pressure on project management,” said Jackman. “This is a pretty small, isolated project that lots of people that I know, or have worked with, could do independently of our staff. Is this potentially an outsourced project management exercise to leave our staff free to do our own projects on the major complexes that need project management time?” Jackman questioned.
Hogan responded that she did not expect the project to require a significant amount of staff time.
“I don’t see this as being a very time-consuming project,” she said, noting it would take place over about a year and a half.
The RDCK submitted the grant application before the Oct. 15 deadline to preserve the funding opportunity, subject to board approval.
If the grant is unsuccessful, staff said the district could look at other funding options or scale back the project.
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