The front steps of the Melfort Legion building have been upgraded. (Angie Rolheiser/northeastNOW staff)

By Angie Rolheiser

Legion facelift

Melfort Legion makes needed upgrades to front steps of building

Feb 3, 2021 | 1:49 PM

The front steps at the Royal Canadian Legion building in Melfort have been recently upgraded.

After a couple years of fundraising, the $5,000 project was able to go ahead to make needed repairs on the steps as well as improved hand rails.

Legion President Jim Graham said more than one person had slipped on the concrete steps that were simply not up to safety standards.

“That is the entrance that duplicate bridge club come in and they are all seniors as most of our legion members are so that was something that we were really happy to get underway,” Graham said.

Steps prior to recent upgrades. (Angie Rolheiser/northeastNOW staff)

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The welding and fabricating are finished and a bit of work is left on the front to close them in. A ribbon cutting will take place when the weather warms up.

Originally, Legion members wanted to take the concrete step out but didn’t because it is a historically designated building.

“We decided to build over it and make it a little safer,” Graham said. “It has a nice look to it now and we can probably put some flower pots on top with some poppies in them so it will look quite good.”

Upgrades were made to the front steps at the Melfort Legion building. (Angie Rolheiser/northeastNOW staff)

Some of the window frames will be painted in the spring in preparation of the scheduled legion provincial convention next October. The convention would be held off depending on the COVID-19 pandemic as the date approaches.

“We want to do our colours of white, blue and gold and replace the gold paint above the door across the front,” Graham said.

The Melfort Legion applied and was given $5,400 through the Federal Veteran’s Affairs grant to cover utilities for three months.

“We are looking pretty good to getting into the April/May period now without dipping into our savings and memorial fund very much,” Graham said.

A large 50/50 fundraiser is something that may be held in the coming months by the Legion but Graham said they also want to be careful with so many other groups fundraising as well.

“We don’t want to compete with other organizations in the community that urgently need to raise funds either,” Graham said. “We know there is a limit to how much people can give and we don’t want to step out of line and try to take more than our share.”

Flooring was another item on the to-do list in the Legion building in the corvette room ahead of the provincial convention, but that project also depends on funding.

“We will see when we kick-off fundraising efforts, if we can generate enough funds to make up any that we have to spend,” Graham said.

In addition to the exterior work that has been done, a couple of loyal members have been repairing walls inside and working on some new display cases.

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angie.rolheiser@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @Angie_Rolheiser