Peter Varga
Stanstead Journal (Reproduced with permission)

VILLAGE PREPARING GROUNDWORK
Plans to proceed with renovations to the 174-year-old St. James Anglican Church Hall in Hatley Village may become reality as soon as this year, according to St. James Church warden James Ferrabee, once budgeting for the project is submitted over the coming weeks. “We hope within the next 10 days or so we’ll have a budget,” Ferrabee said last weekend, in an interview at the hall.

The building, which houses the Hatley library and community hall, is currently being assessed by an unnamed engineer who will prepare the budget for restorations, estimated at about $100,000. Some $25,000 have already been raised towards the restoration from large donors, Ferrabee said. Once budgeting and building priorities are set, remaining amounts will be raised through an appeal to the general community.

Plans to renovate the hall go back three years, when the St. James Anglican Church next door was restored. Disagreement on matters of ownership were resolved last year, when the municipality conceded that it belonged to the church.

NON-RELIGIOUS ASSOCIATION TO RUN HALL
Concerns over the ability to raise funds for restorative work prompted church members to establish the Hatley Preservation Association, a non-profit organization unaffiliated to the Anglican Church. Certification of the organization’s non-profit status is currently in the works. “The reason for that is quite often foundations, and even individuals who have money don’t want to give to a denomination,” explained Ferrabee. “They want to give to something that’s neutral.”

The name of the hall will be kept as is, and St. James Church will maintain ownership of the building, he assured. In the interests of broadening the fundraising effort, Ferrabee and fellow coordinators of the renovation project have decided to create the “arms-length” charitable organization, as he calls it, to attract non-Anglican and other donors and enable them to make out receipts for tax purposes. The Hatley Preservation Association is to be run by a board of directors, which will include members of the community.

The two-storey hall includes the village library, rented from the church and run by the Hatley Library Association, and the community hall on the ground floor, currently run by the Anglican Church Women. Renovations are to include installation of insulation, replacing the roof, restoration of foundations, plumbing, wiring, and new windows, Ferrabee said. Each set of works will be contracted out individually. “The question is how much each is going to cost, and what priorities should be,” he explained. “The town isn’t paying for it, and the government isn’t either. We have to follow certain codes so all this unfortunately takes time.”


(Photo: Peter Varga / Stanstead Journal)