Parrsboro preservation picture getting clearer

By TOM McCOAG Amherst Bureau
Tue. Jun 3 – Chronicle Herald

Michael Fuller, chairman of the Parrsboro Band Association, explains to members of the Nova Scotia Heritage Trust how the association plans to save the town’s historic band hall.

PARRSBORO — Another part of the plan to save Parrsboro’s historic band hall fell into place over the weekend when a video promoting the effort was launched.

“It’s a great video that shows the awesome support the community has for this project,” Michael Fuller, chairman of the Parrsboro Band Association, said Monday.

“It will be a wonderful marketing tool that we can use when we begin approaching organizations for donations toward the project.”

The 9½-minute video gives a general overview of Parrsboro and the plan to save the 123-year-old hall that began life as a church before becoming a school auditorium and later a band hall for the Parrsboro Citizen Band.

Hard times after the band broke up three years ago led many in the Cumberland County town to believe the building would be lost. A reorganization of the band association two years ago prompted the new initiative to save the building.

(Blog Note: The band did not break up, and still plays at the hall.)

The association, which has more than 200 members, hired consultants who developed a $2-million plan to restore the original architecture and turn the building into an arts, cultural and wellness centre with a 150-seat auditorium, conference rooms, workspaces and a gym.

The plan also calls for environmentally friendly geothermal and solar energy to be used to heat, cool and power the building.

The video features several prominent citizens, including Mayor Doug Robinson and Bruce Graham, the former TV news anchor who is board chairman of Ship’s Company Theatre.

“We couldn’t have produced this video without the assistance of the Nova Scotia Heritage Trust,” Mr. Fuller said. “They paid about $1,000 to have it done by Yarmouth videographer Susan Hutchins.

“She did a fantastic job.”

(Blog Note: Watch the Video)

The heritage trust got involved because “we are losing a lot of historic religious infrastructure in the province and we believe what they are doing in Parrsboro will become an example of how to save religious architecture that otherwise may be lost,” trust spokesman Michael Tavares said.

“This is the first project we know of where a community is working to save a religious building by adapting it to reuse for the community,” he said. “By helping them succeed, we can show other communities that they, too, can save their historic religious infrastructure.”

With the arrival of the video, the band association is a step closer to beginning its fundraising campaign, but no date has been set, Mr. Fuller said.

“We are still working on some details, like more detailed architectural drawings, that will enable us to fine-tune the cost of the project,” he said. “Once we have that in place, we hope to begin the campaign.”

’This is the first project we know of where a community is working to save a religious building by adapting it to reuse for the community.’

Michael Tavares Spokesman, Nova Scotia Heritage Trust