Legion levelled by fire will be rebuilt

It was a dark day in Hepworth when the community’s legion went up in flames earlier this year.

“We lost artifacts dating back to World War I, so it’s a great loss to our veterans, especially,” said legion member, Bill Vanstone.

It’s taken nearly a year, but the legion and its insurance company have finally come to a monetary settlement, allowing the legion membership to finally confirm they will be rebuilding.

“It allows us to move forward after this fire. Now we have to get the pulse of the general membership to see what they are wanting for a new legion. We don’t want to build something we can’t afford to look after or maintain, but we want something big enough to grow, as the need arises,” said Jim Copp, chair of the Hepworth Legion’s new building committee.

The previous Hepworth-Shallow Lake Royal Canadian Legion was designed as a music hall, with over 13,000 square feet.

The Legion in Hepworth was destroyed by fire in January, 2022. (Photo submited)While nothing has yet been decided, a much smaller building, is more than likely to replace it, which may not be good news for the Bruce-Grey Music Hall of Fame, which previously used the legion to house and display its musical memorabilia.

“We don’t know what we’re going to have square footage wise, whether we’ll have room for anyone else, too. We’ll have to determine that once we get a building design,” said Copp.

Legion executives are hoping to hear from members about the rebuilding plans by mid-January, with hopes of starting re-construction sometime in early to mid-2023.

“I am looking forward to the legion being rebuilt. It’s been in this community forever. I’m really excited about us going forward,” said long time legion member, and Ladies Auxiliary Chair, Marie Mole.

Hepworth-Shallow Lake Legion President Karie Cole said while insurance will cover most of the new building’s costs, fundraising will be required to cover the entire reconstruction costs.