It was a funeral lunch that mourners won't soon forget. As people gathered in the Swan Lake Community Centre, strange noises started coming from the roof. Shortly after that, with everyone safely evacuated, a large chunk of the roof crashed down. Chair of the hall committee Leonard Decosse describes what happened.
"People could hear noises, they thought people were throwing chairs or boards were breaking. They realized that the ceiling was starting to cave in. So they moved everybody to what they thought was the safer part of the hall. Within five to ten minutes the fire department had been called and they got everybody out of there. They said flat out, you guys gotta get outta here!"
It wasn't long after everyone was evacuated, the East side of the roof was no more, and the hall had to be shut down. Permanently. The initial hope was that the roof could be repaired but after the damage was assessed by a structural engineer, it was determined the building was no longer safe. Decosse outlines the next steps in the process.
"Bids are going out for it to be cleaned up and demolished. Then, we're hoping we can rebuild in the same place. There are rules and regulations we have to go by and that might change the size of the building we'll be able to do. It's probably gonna be a year, I would say before the dust settles and we need to worry about that. In fact, if we're lucky, a year."
Many area residents were sharing memories of the hall following the collapse and one person recalled having their wedding reception at the venue long before the most recent renovations were done. That event was in 1952. With the hall having such a long history in the region, the main concern most people had was if it would in fact be rebuilt. Heavy snow was the cause of the collapse and Decosse says 100% the plan is to rebuild.
"Insurance will cover that. The hall is a big part of the community. It would be terrible if we don't get another, but I don't foresee that being an issue. I think we're gonna be all right."
While it will be inconvenient for the next couple of years while that process takes place, Decosse says the ability to build a new hall from the ground up affords them all kinds of possibilities.
"The hall was built for specific functions. A new facility could be constructed for multi-use. Hopefully, we can build something that can serve the community for years to come for many different things.”