The Lakes District Film Appreciation Society (LDFAS) in Burns Lake is getting $309,000 from the provincial government for the long-planned Beacon Theatre siding and front facade project.
“The whole board is extremely excited about the grant just announced by the province. With the Beacon Theatre being such an essential part of the Burns Lake community it will be great to make the theatre landmark worthy!” said John Illes volunteer with the LDFAS.
The society had applied for the province’s Community Economic Recovery Infrastructure Program’s (CERIP) Community Economic Resilience stream and have now been approved for the long-pending project.
According to Illes, the grant will cover the cost of finishing the theatre. The grant won’t cover the replacement of the roof which is planned for May.
“So we think we are getting close to having enough funds for the roof replacement. We are waiting on the cost estimate for the roof -which will likely be more than we expected due to the increase in the cost of lumber and other construction supplies,” he said, adding that so far Burns Lake Rotary, Burns Lake Community Forest, the Regional District of Bulkley Nechako area B and E and DWB Contracting have together managed to roughly bring the total funding close to their goal.
READ MORE: Beacon Theatre to get a new roof soon
The board is hoping to start work on the facade by summer.
“The theatre board, staff and all our patrons are very anxious to reopen up for this spring’s blockbusters,” he said.
The village of Granisle is also getting a provincial grant to help upgrade its curling rink.
The village has received the full amount of $362,148 for which they applied.
According to Mayor Linda Mcguire, the updates for the curling rink, which is the most used recreational facility in the community, have been long overdue.
McGuire also said that the next step would be to organize a tender package. The village is hoping for a start date in early April with completion as soon as possible, barring no issues with supply of materials.
“This will bring us one step closer to community long term sustainability with our infrastructure,” she said.
The money comes from $30 million being given out by the province to counter any economic downfall from the COVID-19 pandemic to 63 small-scale public-use infrastructure projects throughout B.C.
Of the 63 projects, a few others in the north are from Fort St. John, Fraser Lake, Smithers and Terrace.
Fort St. John will be getting $994,500 for the Kin Park Improvements Phase 1, Fraser Lake will be getting $1 million towards upgrading the Fraser Lake Community Hall from the local curling rink into a year-round community hall and gathering place, Smithers will be getting $980,000 for the Arena Ice Plants Consolidation and Heat Recovery’s phase 1 upgrades and Terrace will be getting $921,352 towards its LakeIse Gateway Connection Project.
Priyanka Ketkar
Multimedia journalist
@PriyankaKetkar
priyanka.ketkar@ldnews.net
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