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Alliston Legion reopens with renovations from Trillium Grants

December 22, 2022   ·   0 Comments

By Brian Lockhart

If you’re looking for a space to hold a banquet, party, or large meeting, the newly renovated facilities at the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 171 in Alliston will provide a bright, spacious and modern venue.

The Legion was beginning to show its age with a rather outdated interior and areas of the facility showing their age.

Branch members put together very highly detailed and well-thought-out requests for Trillium Grants and were successful in receiving two of them.

The first grant of $385,900 was the result of a Community Building Fund capital stream grant from the Government of Ontario and Ontario Trillium Fund (OTF) in late 2021, to repair the building’s existing sports infrastructure. It also covered the cost to replace uneven flooring with a new, level, and slip-resistant industrial-grade floor that will improve accessibility for everyone visiting the branch.

In addition, the grant was used to replace the HVAC system in the Legion’s sports hall, extending the life of the facility and operating on a more energy-efficient basis, while adding touchless fixtures in the washrooms.

The second grant awarded this past spring, was a $76,300 Resilient Communities Fund grant from OTF. This grant was focused on upgrading the Legion’s kitchen facilities by renovating the space and adding new commercial kitchen equipment.

The renovations were showcased to Legion members and the public during a grand reopening held on Friday, Dec. 16.

“Congratulations to the executive and members of the Alliston Legion on these significant grants from the Ontario Trillium Foundation,” said Brian Saunderson, MPP for Simcoe-Grey, who attended the reopening ceremony. “These grants are recognition of the important services and support the Alliston Legion provides to our veterans and to our community.”

The sports hall at the Legion looks like a brand-new facility. The old carpet was removed and with the new flooring and freshly painted walls, it has a bright and clean appearance.

The renovated kitchen is licensed and will allow the Legion to rent it out to food organizations who require a commercial-grade kitchen for their work.

“The impact of these grants from the Ontario Trillium Foundation cannot be underestimated,” said Maryann Edwards, president of the Branch 171 Legion in Alliston. “These grants allowed for needed renovations to be made and improved health and safety in the kitchen. Our building looks and functions amazingly.”

The Alliston Legion received the top amount awarded to any Legion in Ontario because of their due diligence when filling in applications.

“Our secretary, Tim Dougherty, is an amazing person for filling out paperwork,” said Branch PR Officer, Scott Cooke. “He answered every question they asked and he identified 100 per cent to their satisfaction. They said it was one of the best applications they had ever seen. He identified all the problems and concerns like the uneven floors in the building that cause problems for people walking. There were trip hazards we had to address. With an aging society, particularly at the Legion, we had those concerns all the time.”

The Legion’s Sports Hall and commercial kitchen are available for rent to the general public and inquiries can be made to the Branch at 705-435-7922 or by e-mail at rcl171@rogers.com.


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