The Hepworth-Shallow Lake Legion is getting ready to explore different ideas for a rebuild after accepting a settlement from its insurer for its building, which was completely destroyed by fire nearly a year ago.
Jim Copp, 1st Vice-President of the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 586, says the settlement allows the legion to build “any sized building we choose” and does not constrain them to following the footprint of the previous structure.
“That opens up a whole bunch of options for us as far as designing a building that is current with today’s legion,” Copp says. “We’ll get some input from members and come up with a design that looks after our short-term goals as well as our long-term goals, something that will be sustainable in the future.”
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The 13,500 square-foot legion branch building in Hepworth was completely destroyed in a massive five on Jan. 21, 2022. The building and all of its contents — including valuable memorabilia such as medals, vintage war items and guns were a total loss. It was also home to the Bruce-Grey Music Hall of Fame, who will apparently approach the legion to see if there’s an opportunity to be included in the new space once its constructed.
With the insurance settlement now out of the way, Legion President Karie Cole says the building committee plans to reach out to members and the community to find out what they would like to see with a new building.
Cole and Copp mention a range of possibilities that could be considered for incorporating in the new space: apartments, seniors housing, meeting rooms, a hall.
“We have all kinds of options. That’s what we need to see,” Cole says . “We’re coming up with plans and designs of what we want to see and what’s going to generate revenue for us. And then we’ll go from there.”
Cole says there’s no firm timeline as of right now for when construction could potentially begin. The focus in the near-term is to consult with the community and identify a design concept to move forward with.
“Once we design that and get funding going, we will start making plans and get something built,” she says.
The Hepworth-Shallow Lake Legion Branch has continued to operate since losing its building in the fire earlier this year. They’ve been working out of a temporary office trailer on the site of the former structure in Hepworth. In fact, Copp says they’ve added 20 new members since the devastating blaze.