The Jarvie Community Council has purchased the former Jarvie School from the Pembina Hills school division $1 with the intention of turning it into a community centre.
During the Pembina Hills meeting on Jan. 13, trustees received a letter from the community council thanking them for their assistance in purchasing the building, along with a $1 cheque.
Roberta Turnbull, secretary-treasurer for the Jarvie Community Council, said they intend to do some renovations sometime this year on the school which has been closed since the end of the 2013-2014 school year.
Turnbull said they want to put a new roof on the building, as there was some periodic leakage when the school was open. The leaks were be repaired by Pembina Hills, but “it really did need to have some upgrading,” she added.
There are four classrooms in the building, one of which is occupied by the Jarvie Public Library.
Turnbull said they intend to open up two of the classrooms and perhaps add pool tables and other furnishings for them to serve as general purpose rooms.
The fourth classroom, which was a science lab, will be converted into a community kitchen.
The gym will be available for activities like carpet bowling or pickleball, or just as a space for seniors to walk inside when the weather is bad.
“It will house all of these things. It’s actually going to be quite a recreation centre,” she said.
For now, the building will be known as the Jarvie Community Centre, though the name may be changed at some point, she said.
Turnbull noted the community council held a meeting Jan. 11 to discuss plans for the new centre and More than 30 people turned out.
“We wanted to get the community’s view on what they wanted to see,” she said.
Turnbull said they had about eight different plans drawn up for how to use the rooms within the school, and everyone agreed on the current plan.
“There was consensus on what the plan would be, and now we can go ahead,” she said. “It was very nice to see.”
Within the next few months, the council plans to hold a large silent auction/potluck supper as a fundraiser.
“We’re going to get rid of some of the things from the curling club, because of course it was disbanded and closed down (a few years ago) … and we have also some items in the school that were left, some older desks and things like that.”
Eventually, the plan is to have the community centre replace the old Jarvie Hall.
The council also recently established a new skating rink in the hamlet in December.
The rink was created with a small grant from Westlock County, Turnbull noted. With the grant, they were able to buy end boards, while donations helped cover the cost of the sides.
They also managed to secure a small skate shack.
The public skating surface is located on land owned by Pembina Gas and she said they have a one-year lease to use that property, with the possibility of leasing or purchasing it.
Turnbull said they originally wanted to put it over by the playground but the land had too much of a slope.
It was up and running by the Christmas holidays and has been very well-utilized so far, she added.
“Over the new year’s season a couple families had their grandkids home and they brought over the whole works on to the ice,” she said.
