Efforts to build a new all-ages activity centre in Plum Coulee are gaining momentum. The local Age Friendly Committee provided a project update to the public this week.

Spokesperson Dorothy Derksen says the plan is to build a forty-by-eighty facility where the current dilapidated Seniors Centre stands on Main Avenue, and the Committee would like to start construction in April with the hope of having the facility complete in time for Plum Fest in August. This means fund raising will need to kick into high gear and Monday's meeting was a chance to provide an update on where those numbers are at.

So far $122,470 has come in through various grants, donations, pledges and initial fund raisers. $101,970 has been designated for construction and $20,500 is earmarked to help pay for non-construction items like equipment that will go in the finished facility. The total cost of the project is expected to tally around $380,000 - $400,000.

Committee Member Brian Derksen did say that the group had looked at renovating the neighbouring old Town Office building, however that cost was about $30,000 more than building a brand new facility.

The fund raising push is officially underway and (Dorothy) Derksen says committee members will be canvassing local businesses and organizations to see what they can do to help. "They have been very supportive, some are giving up to five thousand dollars." The Thomas Sill Foundation provided a $20,000 grant for the project and Derksen welcomes any offers to match it.

Monday's meeting also allowed for some brainstorming on how more dollars could be generated and Derksen says the owner of the Happy Wanderer stepped up with an offer to run a Chase the Ace fund raiser.

The Committee is also running a Winter Dinner Club with three special dinners in January, February and March. The January 28th event will feature a Hungarian meal and Hungarian music. Only fifty tickets are available at a cost of fifty dollars a piece.

Also brought up at the meeting was the suggestion to build the facility as soon as possible and pay for it later. Derksen says there are some complications around the group obtaining a loan to make it happen but members will further explore that option at the next meeting.

Meantime, she explains this new facility will be one for all ages and points out that Plum Coulee is actually a very young town with an average of twenty-seven.

"And so to keep our people here...we need to have activities for the younger people, for the middle-aged and for the seniors."

The list of possibilities ranges from English classes, air rifle club, reading clubs, indoor sports, backyard barbecues and a regular coffee shop. In fact, the committee would like to hire a part-time activities coordinator once the new facility is built.