Last year Brockton made a one-time grant increase to the Victoria Jubilee Hall from 5 to 10 thousand dollars. The Friends of the Victoria Jubilee Hall would like Council to do this again.
The Victoria Jubilee Hall is known as the gem of Walkerton and the arts and cultural center for all of Brockton.
The historic 1897 building narrowly escaped the wrecking ball in 1997 after a group of volunteers with the help of Architectural Conservancy of Ontario fought to save the Hall, purchasing it from the municipality for a dollar.
Keeping the lights and heat on over the last 23 years while continuing to maintain this historic building’s beauty and capital needs is a never-ending challenge for the volunteers who pour thousands of volunteer hours into the Hall each year.
With rising costs and ongoing operational and restoration projects in need of attention, Spokesperson Bob McCulloch is urging Council to permanently increase the annual municipal grant to the Hall from 5 to 10 thousand dollars.
While the building is no longer a municipal building, McCulloch says in the eyes of the public it is a community building.
Mayor Chris Peabody acknowledges what an important role and contribution the Victoria Jubilee Hall plays in Brockton and says the request will be given serious consideration during the upcoming budget deliberations.
The Victoria Jubilee Hall boasts a gorgeous 300 seat opera hall and plays host to a wide variety of musical and dramatic performances throughout the year.
It also hosts Town Hall style meetings for Brockton and the community as a whole.
In 2018 it was estimated that 7400 people visited the Hall in some capacity and over 4 thousand volunteer hours were put into the Hall, this does not even take into account all of the volunteer hours on the beautiful gardens.