The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
A landmark building could become the uptown area's newest apartment complex. A local resident has asked Flin Flon City Council to rezone the former Northminster Memorial United Church on Hill Street to accommodate multiple family dwellings. "It would be nice to see something done with that old building," said Councillor Dave Law at Tuesday's council meeting. "It's something that's stood in Flin Flon for a long time. If it could be renovated to a residential dwelling, that would be good. It would give life to the uptown area, and hopefully it comes to fruition." Council passed first reading of the requested motion at their Tuesday meeting. The next step will be to notify and obtain input from residents in the neighbouring area. After that, the motion would be brought back to council for second and final readings. The towering former church, which is near another local landmark, the 100 Stairs, has been a fixture of Flin Flon's landscape since 1947. The spacious building hasn't been used as a church in years, as a new Northminster Memorial United Church was built on Bracken Street. However, the building did house the Nearly New Shop Ñ a secondhand store designed to serve low-income residents Ñ from 1992 until the fall of 2001. Other matters In another matter at the meeting, the local branch of Ducks Unlimited called on council to lower the rental price for the R.H. Channing Auditorium for non-profit groups. "I personally feel that you could utilize the hall more often if you were to lower the price..." wrote the group's coordinator in a letter. "The whole idea is to fill that hall as many times as you can, isn't it?" See 'Rates' P.# Con't from P.# Councillor Bill Hanson said it would be nice if non-profit groups didn't have to pay the rental fees "but unfortunately, there's a cost associated with the hall." "I believe the rates are set low enough, as low as we can set them, actually, to recoup some of our costs," he said. Mayor Dennis Ballard pointed out that the City subsidizes the R.H. Channing Auditorium "so obviously whatever's paying for the use of that hall does not cover the costs to run it." A host of non-profit and for-profit organizations rent the R.H. Channing Auditorium for events each year. As well, council reviewed a letter requesting that the City again contribute $10,000 to Greenstone Community Futures Development Corporation. That's the same amount the City gave Greenstone in 2003. "The $10,000 financial assistance... allowed us to pursue a number of local, regional and national marketing opportunities," read the letter, signed by Greenstone general manager Lois (Bunny) Burke. The letter went on to outline Greenstone initiatives, such as the coordination of both the City of Flin Flon Web site and a business loan program initiated by the City. Greenstone will also promote the local area at upcoming trade shows in Winnipeg, Edmonton and Brandon. There was no discussion relative to Greenstone's request, and the letter was referred to the Finance Committee for further review. Also at the meeting, Mayor Ballard agreed to write a letter of support for the Youth Resource Lighthouse Program, which offers activities for young people in the Flin Flon Community Youth Resource Centre. Funded through the Manitoba Justice Branch as part of a crime prevention strategy, the program began in October 2003. The program coordinators wrote to council to request a letter of support to help the initiative continue to serve area youth. In addition, Councillor Nazir Ahmad shared with fellow councillors his thoughts on a personal trip he recently took to his old country of Pakistan. "Pakistan has been in the news recently, not so good news, it seems that there is turmoil there, but I found the country at peace, nothing like what we read in the newspapers," he said. Councillor Ahmad commented that trips outside of Canada make him better appreciate "the kind of blessings that we have here." Mayor Ballard concurred, commenting that "I'll never forget the first time I traveled abroad, and you're right, you will never appreciate this country until you do that." Also, a motion passed to purchase a full-page advertisement in the upcoming 2004 Flin Flon Visitor's Guide at a cost of $1,011. Greenstone is producing 15,000 copies of the guide, which will be distributed throughout Canada and the United States.
