Latest news with #NextGreatSave
CBC
08-04-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
Come take a tour of the historic Grand Theatre in Indian Head, Sask.
The Grand Theatre in Indian Head, Sask., is believed to be the oldest continuously operating theatre of its kind in Western Canada. It has been the root of entertainment in the small Saskatchewan town for the past 121 years. Now it is participating in the Next Great Save, a Canada-wide competition run by the National Trust for Canada that provides up to $50,000 to preserve historic buildings.
CBC
08-04-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
The Grand Theatre hopes to win a Canada-wide competition to repair historic site in Indian Head
For more than a century, residents of Indian Head, Sask., and nearby neighbours have gathered at The Grand Theatre to enjoy everything from silent films and vaudeville acts to modern blockbusters, live performances and community events. Built as an opera house in 1904 by Arthur James Osment using bricks made by a prominent Métis family from the Qu'Appelle Valley, the building needs repairs to keep it safe and accessible. Lisa Horsman, chair of the theatre's board, says it's a huge economic driver for the community located about 70 kilometres east of Regina, bringing business to local stores and restaurants. "It brings people from all over, at least an 80-kilometre radius to our town, which of course drives the economy and our town," Horsman said. "But more than that. It's really been an important piece of our history. The building has huge roots for the Métis Nation in the area." The search to come up with money for the repairs led the board to Next Great Save, a Canada-wide competition that provides an opportunity for communities to win money to protect their historic buildings. Horsman says preserving the building means repairing its flooring and making it wheelchair accessible. "There's a huge step into the washrooms and stalls that a wheelchair couldn't access even if it wanted to. There's also no place in the theatre to park and sit in a wheelchair," she said. "It's just not safe or accessible and that's not acceptable." Horsman feels a personal attachment to the theatre. "Once you become involved with the theatre, it really steals a piece of your heart," she said. "There are so many things that I've done here with my family, with my classroom at school. I lead the local drama club at the elementary school. We have our productions here, so there's just so much a part of me here and so much a part of the community here. "My big hope for this place is that my grandchildren will get to enjoy it the way their grandparents did." Megan McEwan, a member of the board, says the theatre has been community owned since 2014. "The Grand Theatre is so special to our community," she said. "It really holds the stories of how our community has gotten to be where it is today. "To preserve our heritage buildings, is to preserve the stories of what makes a community unique. This is where a lot of people had their first dates, this is where many teenagers had their first job. For myself, as a parent, this is where my kids saw their first movie …" The closing day for voting in the competition at the Next Great Save website is April 17.
CBC
06-04-2025
- Business
- CBC
This old house: Bathurst group finalist to win $50K for repairs to historical property
A New Brunswick organization is hoping to get a big helping hand to restore a heritage site. Doucet Hennessy House in Bathurst is a finalist in the Next Great Save, a competition from the non-profit National Trust for Canada, where the winner gets $50,000 to go toward preserving or renewing a heritage place. Melynda Jarratt, president of the Doucet Hennessy House Association, said there are a lot of deserving heritage sites in Canada, but she still thought it worth entering. "I thought, oh well, it's a chance," she said. "If you don't apply, it's like winning the lotto, right? If you don't buy the ticket, you can't win." Getting chosen felt like graduating from university, said Jarratt. "I threw my hat up in the air!" Doucet Hennessy House is more than 200 years old. The homestead, which sits at the top of a hill on St. Peter Avenue and overlooks the Bay of Chaleur, was home to the Doucet family first and then the Hennessy family. According to the group's submission to the competition, the house was built in 1812 by Charles Doucet, an Acadian. In the early 1900s, the 200 acres were passed on to the Irish-Scottish Hennessy family. Now, the house is used for cultural programming, such as theatre, artist residencies and exhibits. The first phase of the house's restoration is already completed, said Jarratt, but Phase 2 will require some monetary support. The main focus in the past was structural repairs and the exterior, she said, while the second phase is focused more on the inside. Jarratt said winning the $50,000 prize money would allow the group to access different funding streams to help complete the project. She said for most heritage grants, groups need to be able to contribute a small portion of the money to get the money. Even a 10 per cent contribution can add up, she said. "When you've got a $500,000 project, what's 10 per cent? It's 50,000 bucks," said Jarratt. "And it's hard to raise money in Bathurst, and it's hard to raise money in an economically challenged community that's facing many difficulties of its own." Public voting started on Monday and goes until April 17 when the winners are chosen. Along with the grand prize, there are two runner-up prizes of $10,000 and $5,000. The finalists include three in Newfoundland and Labrador, one in Alberta, two in British Columbia, one in Manitoba, one in Nova Scotia, two in Ontario and one in Saskatchewan. The Bathurst project is the only New Brunswick finalist. Phase two of the Doucet Hennessy House project has involved gutting the first floor, which has revealed some 200-year-old ceiling beams, said Jarratt. New wiring and plumbing, new entryways to the rooms, insulation and a wheelchair accessible bathroom still have to be completed. Part of this phase also includes making the house energy efficient, including adding solar energy. "This will open up doors for us that we've been pushing and kicking … to try to get into those funding structures," said Jarratt.
CBC
31-03-2025
- General
- CBC
National competition could help save former Black church in Yarmouth
The former Sharon Assembly Church is a finalist in the Next Great Save. Voting is now open and volunteers hope a win could lead to a shot in the arm for their fundraising efforts. Michael Gorman has the story.
CBC
31-03-2025
- General
- CBC
Former Black church site a finalist in competition for renovation funding
Chuck Smith's earliest memories of the Sharon Assembly Church in Yarmouth, N.S., are sitting in the front pew as a boy listening to his grandfather, Rev. Nathan Smith, preach to the congregation. "He was a fire-and-brimstone type of preacher," Smith recalled with a laugh during a recent interview. "He put the fear of God in you. If you weren't good, you knew where you were going. He was a very powerful speaker, very flamboyant, but also a wonderful human being, too." The building on East Street has fallen on hard times since it closed in 2012 due to financial struggles and a declining congregation. But as Smith and a group of volunteers have come together to try to save it, they're hoping for some added help. The former church is one of 12 sites across the country — and the only Nova Scotia location — to reach the finals of the Next Great Save, a competition put on by the National Trust of Canada to help save historic sites. Voting runs until April 17, with the top vote-getter receiving $50,000. The first and second runners-up receive $10,000 and $5,000, respectively. "For me, it's preserving not only a part of Yarmouth's history and the Black history, but it's preserving a part of, you know, Nova Scotia's history that's been there since the 1800s," said Vanessa Fells, who, like Smith, is a member of the volunteer board with deep family ties to the site. Smith estimates they need about $500,000, with a new roof being the most pressing priority. The goal is to install a kitchen, museum and space for gatherings. The board hopes the building could also serve as a warming centre in times of need. Fells said the board is pursuing funding support from all three levels of government, along with provincial and federal heritage status. But winning the competition would give their efforts a much-needed jump-start. Like everyone involved, it's a personal matter for Fells. She has fond memories of attending weddings as a child, vacation Bible schools and knowing the generational connections her family and the broader local Black community have to the site. "It's our church. It's our family church. It has always been a part of who we are." Smith's family owes its ties to Yarmouth to the church. His great-grandfather, Rev. George William Smith, was an African Methodist minister who moved the family from Shelburne, N.S., to Yarmouth when he took on his final assignment at the church. 'This place has my heart' Smith's father was a boy at the time and, along with others, grew up singing in the church before going on to be a part of the noted local gospel music group the Mission-Aires. After the church closed and Smith would take walks past the site, he always hoped it could be preserved. That wish got a real boost when the volunteer board came together and started working last year. Smith is hoping the broader community will pitch in now that the site has reached the finals of the Next Great Save by voting to support the place that is so dear to him. "This place has my heart."
