Isn't it nice when a plan comes together?
No doubt a feeling of a job well done is presently pending for members of Carlyle's Memorial Hall board, after a three or more year quest to ease access to the hall's theatre for those with mobility issues is finally coming to an end.
"We first began to speak about it, because we recognized that a lot of our regular patrons were getting a bit older," said hall board vice-president Shannon Klatt. "We thought it would be a great idea to find a way to improve access to the theatre, and we spoke about it for quite a while."
Initially looking at building a chair-lift into the side of the staircase, a number of obstacles proved to be in the way of such a project.
It was with the assistance of former Carlyle special projects co-ordinator Lorri Solomon that the answer finally made itself apparent.
"We had been talking about some sort of elevator when Lorri let us know about the grant," Klatt said. "That is what made the entire elevator project possible."
The grant Klatt is speaking of is from Spectra Credit Union, through their Spectra Community Grant Foundation.
"The foundation exists to provide support for various community organizations that are pursuing projects, especially capital projects, that provide support for the community as a whole," explains Tami Scott, the Executive Vice-President of Marketing and Human Resources for Spectra. "We also like to focus our support on those projects that provide supports, or ease the lives, of those who have special needs."
"We were very happy to provide the support for this project," Scott said. "In one fell swoop it hit every aspect that our grants are meant to cover, and that made the project a perfect fit for us."
With $20,000 available for the project through the grant, the hall board was able to move ahead with the project, whose final price tag is estimated to fall in the $30,000 mark.
"The first thing we had to do was decide where to put it," said Paul Twietmeyer, a member of the hall, but also a volunteer who has put considerable time into the project. "Once we had that done, we had to cut through a wall, and build the frame structure."
The 20-foot elevator shaft was run up to the second floor from the first, just to the right of the interior doors of the hall.
"We are pretty much done everything we can do at this time, I'm just putting doors in and things like that," Twietmeyer said. "But we should have all the machinery soon, so once we get that, we'll have everything finished up and ready for the Cornerstone Theatre spring performance."
This spring, the Cornerstone troupe will be presenting the play, 'Exit the Body.'
With the play scheduled for the weekend of April 15, this puts a deadline on the project that Twietmeyer seems confident they will be able to meet.
"It's pretty close to all done," Twietmeyer said. "We still have some work to do on it, plus things like the track to install on the wall once the equipment gets here, but the whole thing is coming along nicely."
Besides the efforts that Twietmeyer has put into the elevator, he has also provided a new door for the lower dance hall, as well as some other items.
"This is really just part of the work that we're hoping to do to help maintain the building," Klatt said. "We hope to expand the dance floor, upgrade the bar, improve the kitchen."
"We would also like to do something with the exterior, like stucco or perhaps metal siding," Klatt said. "But that's still in the future."
"For now, I hope we'll be able to get the elevator in and inspected before the spring play," Klatt said. "After that we can look at some of the other projects we would like to pursue."
Klatt says the project owes a great thanks to both Twietmeyer and Doug Waldner, amongst others, for their continuing dedication to the project and the hall.
