Two singer-songwriters will take to the stage Saturday (Nov 26), as part of a fundraising concert to help restore the exterior of the Canmore Miners’ Union Hall to its full and former glory.
The Union Hall management committee, which operates the 98-year-old building on Seventh Avenue on behalf of the Town of Canmore, is raising money to replace the stucco on the exterior walls with the same type of wood bevel siding that would have been installed when the hall was completed in 1913.
The whole exterior renovation project, including landscaping, is expected to cost approximately $350,000.
So far, Bob Snape, chair of the restoration committee, said a private donor has put forward $100,000, contingent on the Town of Canmore providing a matching grant, which council will debate during its 2012 budget deliberations.
And as part of the committee’s goal to raise $100,000 through the community, Snape has organized two fundraising concerts with T. Buckley & Lori Reid sharing the stage, cabaret-style, at the Union Hall on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets for this show are $25 each.
T. Buckley is a Calgary-based singer-songwriter who won the 2010 Calgary Folk Music Festival songwriting competition. He’s known for his distinctive roots blend of traditional country, folk, bluegrass and rock ‘n’ roll.
Lori Reid, a founding member of The Fates, is a Canmore-based musician whose latest album, Temperance Hotel, was recorded in the Canmore Hotel.
The second fundraising concert will feature Juno-award-winning musician Ron Hynes on May 4, 2012.
“It’s important the community understand that this a project the community has to rally around and for all of those people that have history with the hall and have spent time there and know the value of the hall, those are the people we hope to connect with,” Snape said Monday (Nov. 21).
The restoration committee has also proposed moving the Canmore Miners’ bronze from its site in front of the Canmore Hotel to the corner of Seventh Avenue and Seventh Street.
“We’re starting to get a serious amount of interest from individuals and small business owners in town,” Snape said of the project meant to recognize the hall’s centennial. “We’ve brought the interior back to life and now we’re bringing the exterior back to life.”
For more information on the restoration project and a list of upcoming events at the hall, go to www.canmoreminersunionhall.com
