PRESS RELEASES

Civic centre fundraisers celebrate $3.5 million goal, name facility after Garcelon family - Posted on 2009-05-22

By JOHN GARDNER
john@stcroixcourier.ca

ST. STEPHEN - The Charlotte County Civic Centre reached a couple of important milestones, becoming the Garcelon Civic Center at the official close of the fundraising campaign on May 20.
A large crowd of supporters was on hand at the St. Stephen Elementary School as the announcement was made that the committee had reached the goal of $3.5 million. This amount is the public commitment with the federal, provincial, and municipal governments bringing the project to $18 million.
"When we first announced our fundraising goal over a year ago, it was thought to be a little over optimistic, some thought it was completely impossible," said Peter Heelis who was the co-chair of the fund raising campaign with his wife, Norah.
"Realistically, with a small population like ours in the town and surrounding area, raising $3.5 million is really quite an accomplishment. I could be mistaken, but I do not believe there has never been another community in the Maritimes that has raised that amount of money for a civic project."
Donors were given naming options for the various components of the complex, with the name of the facility being reserved for the largest donor.
The new civic centre will include an arena, pool, walking track and retail space.
Diane Ganong, in announcing the new name, made mention of the history of the Garcelon family and read a statement from Bill Garcelon. "We are the last generation with the Garcelon name who are still living here. Our family has a long history here and because of the values and the support we have had as a family in this community we wanted to give something back to show our appreciation and to honour our parents and grandparents."
Ganong said the Garcelons have supported the project from the start.
"Bill Garcelon and his wife, Pat, were early supporters of the civic centre project, making space for the office, becoming members of the honourary committee, taking an active role in contacting potential major donors and thereby helping secure substantial donations," she said.
"But it was behind the scenes that Bill and Pat made the significant contribution. The first choice for the location of the civic centre was always Budd Avenue."
Although the initial environmental assessment indicated the site needed remediation, the different levels of government have recognized that such work must be a priority. MP and regional cabinet minister Greg Thompson has worked with the committee to secure the funds required for such work.
"A large portion of our waterfront, which is generally thought unusable for development, gets remediated and our downtown gets a much-needed economic boost," said Ganong.
Bill and Pat Garcelon, as owners of the Budd Avenue site, quietly approached Richard Fulton, chair of the civic centre board, with a remarkable offer. They would sell the property to the town, and then donate over $600,000 back to the project. Furthermore, the Garcelon family would add to this bringing the total donation to almost $700,000, Ganong said.
Fulton was in a mood to celebrate.
"Let's celebrate today what we have accomplished. Let us salute each other. Let us remember we did this together. And by continuing to work together, we will succeed and in the very near future, we will be celebrating the official opening of the Garcelon Civic Center together," said Fulton.
While much attention has been focused on the Heelis family as the fundraising chairs, the attention now moves to Fulton who will be responsible as the project moves to the construction phase. The project is being sped up and design now becomes the priority. It is expected that the ground breaking will happen by August, starting with site preparation and completion in the fall of 2011. Honourary fundraising campaign co-chair David Ganong said the close of the fundraising campaign was monumental.
"I'd like to thank the donors. Without the donors who have come to the table to help us raise this $3.5 million we wouldn't be celebrating this day, nor would we have a civic centre," he said in a recorded message.
"So our thanks to each of those donors big and small."
He also responded to critics of the project who say the civic centre is too expensive for St. Stephen. Ganong recalls similar criticisms when the Border Arena was being planned and one of the harshest critics was his uncle, the late Whidden Ganong.
"Whidden was wrong," Ganong said.
Also announced Wednesday is the naming of the ice arena. It will be known as the Quartermain Arena in honour of Robert Quartermain's donation of $173,000.
Other major contributors were recognizied. The arena lobby is named for the St. Stephen-Milltown Rotary Club, the arena scoreboard is named for Ganong Bros. Ltd. and the pool scoreboard is named for the Kiwanis Club of St. Stephen.