The recently renovated former Dutch Lake School will a lasting and valuable legacy for the community, according to M.P. Cathy McLeod.
“It has a bright and welcoming look as you walk in the door,” she said.
McLeod was at what is now called the Dutch Lake community center on Friday, Aug. 29, to assist in an informal ribbon-cutting for the municpal offices portion of the building.
She wll be in Ottawa on Sept. 20 when a major ceremony to officially open the whole building will take place, she said, but she wanted to congratulate the partners who helped make the project happen.
The federal government contributed $98,000 to the project, she noted, thourgh its community infrastructure improvement program.
The program was set up to stimulate the Canadian economy, particularly in small communities, she said, and the community center project was a good example of what it could accomplish.
The Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo member of parliament said that she has been working with the District of Clearwater and others for several years to see the renovations done.
In his remarks, Mayor John Harwood praised McLeod for always being ready to help the community.
When Canfor announced several years ago that it was going to close its Vavenby sawmill for what turned out to be a two-year shutdlown, the local M.P. was one of the first people to call him and offer assistance, he recalled.
The school district is leasing the former school to the municipality for $1 per year, he said.
“It belonged to the taxpayers and it still belongs to the taxpayers,” Harwood added.
Yellowhead Community Services chair Louise Weaver credited partnerships for making the project happen.
“No one organization alone could do it,” she said.
Instead, District of Clearwater, YCS, Thompson Rivers University and others worked together to make it happen.