Round Barn Rehabilitation Project Receives a $210,000 Grant
from Department of Canadian Heritage
It is with great enthusiasm and joy that the Municipality of the Township of Potton and the Potton Municipal Volunteer Group (GBMP) learned last Thursday that the grant jointly requested to the Department of Canadian Heritage was approved and that they will receive $ 210,000, which corresponds to the amount requested, for the restoration of the Round Barn in Mansonville.
This $ 210,000 will be added to the funds collected by the GBMP since 2013, to reach a total of $ 383,000:
- $ 93,000: donations from the public and businesses during the 2013 and 2017 fundraising campaigns, including a $7,500 contribution from NexKemia Petrochemicals in Mansonville;
- $ 10,000: donation from Destination Owl’s Head, new owners of the resort;
- $ 40,000: conditional grant from the Memphrémagog RCM in 2017 (Territorial Development Fund, FDT);
- $ 30,000: conditional commitment from the Municipality of the Township of Potton.
The allocation of the last two sums was conditional on obtaining another grant, which is now done.
The Village’s Round Barn Rehabilitation Project is aiming at transforming the Village Barn into a Potton Township Historical and Heritage Center. The project includes the following: a new foundation, floor reinforcement, window and door repair or replacement, and roof repairs; the cost of the project is estimated at $ 427,000. Thanks to the grant from Canadian Heritage, the project funding is almost complete.
The GBMP hopes that restoration work can begin in the fall of 2018, but will most likely occur in the spring and summer of 2019, as the Township of Potton, owner of the Round Barn, will be required to request offers and bids for the work to be completed. The Heritage Center will be able to open its doors in the summer of 2020 to present a permanent exhibition, including a visit to the Round Barn and a description of the operation of this type of barn; allowing the Potton Heritage Association to once again present in the barn its annual thematic exhibitions, as it did from 2012 to 2016.
The GBMP shares that this is great news in addition to the recent sale of Owl’s Head Resort believing that these two projects will stimulate the economic, social and cultural life of the township.
Mable Hastings, for The Record September 3rd, 2018
From a Press Release issued by
Jacqueline Robitaille
Secretary | GBMP