Weyburn's Triple C Centre committee is getting "near the finish line" of their funding goal, and a gift announced by Cenovus Energy on Tuesday night has almost brought them to their full goal.
Weyburn's Triple C Centre committee is getting "near the finish line" of their funding goal, and a gift announced by Cenovus Energy on Tuesday night has almost brought them to their full goal.
At the last choral Christmas concert hosted by the Weyburn Comprehensive School, Cenovus Energy revealed they will be donating $250,000 to the centre to assist with the completion of this major project, the largest single donation Cenovus has ever made in the province of Saskatchewan.
"Cenovus is pleased to support the Triple C Centre," said Darcy Cretin, operations superintendent for Cenovus.
"We strive to be a good neighbour and support the communities where we live and work. The centre has received tremendous support from many families, individuals and businesses, and we're excited to be a part of that."
The funds from Cenovus are earmarked to help pay for the score clocks and screens in the Triple C facility.
One of the presenters of the funds was Dave Craigen of Cenovus, who was a founding member of the Performing Arts Centre Society, the predecessor of the Triple C Centre, along with Ray Hamm and Bob King.
He said the main benefits of the Triple C Centre will be the same as what they originally envisioned, namely it will benefit education and culture mainly, with the added benefit of possibly also hosting convention-type events in the city.
He and his committee did a lot of research of what other communities did, as well as learning from the mistakes made in other communities, and he believes the fruit of their labours will be seen in the finished facility of the Triple C Centre.
"The best ideas came from the operations of these facilities, little things like a shop for building sets, or a washer-dryer for washing costumes," said Craigen.
Just prior to this announcement, Triple C chair Deana Mainil said the group had raised a total of $3.2 million of their goal to that point.
"This is a great Christmas gift that everyone will benefit from. It gets us much closer, and we can actually see the finish line," said Mainil.
Triple C stands for Community, Culture and Convention, all of which will be featured in the new facility. Cenovus's donation nearly finishes the total fundraising goal of the Triple C committee of $3.5 million - but they are still short of the finish line, cautions a committee member.
"We can't really say all the money has come in until it's all there. We can see the finish line. We're thrilled that Cenovus has given this gift to the Weyburn community," said Joanne Bannatyne-Cugnet.
The funds have come from naming rights and sponsorships which have been previously announced; these include the Cugnet Centre auditorium, the Colleen Weimer Hall, the Weyburn Credit Union stage, the Helen Davidson choir room, and the Jerry and Orlanda Mainil dressing room.
"There's potential for much greater use by the community, whether it's by dance groups, or the Concert Series; they can bring in much bigger names than before," said Mainil.
One of the last aspects of the fundraising is the sale of the seats going into the Triple C Centre; at last count, 414 of the 700 seats for the centre have been sold, at a sponsorship of $250 each.
As one of the uses of the facility will be as a second gymnasium for the Comp, the Cenovus funds will pay for the score clocks needed for that facility. The second gymnasium is required as the Comp is being retrofitted to become a Grades 7-12 school, incorporating the junior high grades as part of its makeover.
Currently, with construction delays and the expected start-up of the next phases of construction, the Triple C Centre is expected to be completed by June 2013, and the demolition of the brick portions of the Comp (including the former Collegiate area and the Cafetorium) is expected to get underway in July.
