PARRSBORO – Everything old is becoming new again at the Parrsboro Band Hall.
The historic King Street building is beginning to take on more of its original appearance thanks to a new paint job, and the cosmetic efforts will continue in 2011, according to Patricia Burke, head of the Parrsboro Band Association’s building committee.
The front of the building has been repainted its original 1860s colours of ivory tusk and sienna, and reviews have been positive, she said.
“We’ve been getting a lot of good compliments,” said Burke. “People are slowing down and looking, and asking when we’re going to get the rest done. Our vision is to continue on next year.”
But the exterior paint job is not all that has taken place at the band hall recently. The interior walls in the auditorium and the front entrance, as well as the basement, have also been painted, thanks to 83 volunteer hours from Bill Connors.
A wall and steel door have also been built and installed in the building’s furnace room, and the building’s marquee sign has been lighted thanks to the volunteer efforts of Kerwin Davison, who also built a roof over the steps into the kitchen.
The hope for next year is to extend the new paint job to the L-shaped annex portion of the building, while the hope remains to make the band hall wheelchair-accessible by adding an upstairs bathroom and a proper wheelchair ramp outside.
“We just can’t wait any longer,” said Burke. “People with disabilities are being deprived from coming into the building, because if you can’t climb up or down the steps, you can’t come. People have to go the bathroom.”
Contact has been made with ACOA, and Burke’s hope is that funding for such a project will be made available.
But to make any future work possible, the band will have to continue receiving the support from the public that it did in 2010, she said.
“We need people to come in and support us whenever we have something here at the hall,” she said.
