Parks Canada to spend up to $1M on Lunenburg Academy restoration

The Town of Lunenburgwill get up to $1 millionfrom Parks Canada to fix the exteriorof thehistoric Lunenburg Academy building.

The building is the only intact 19th-century academy building surviving in Nova Scotia.

The Parks Canada money comes froma cost-sharing program that helps communities maintain heritage space. The town expects the first phase of the exterior restoration to cost $2 million this year.

The town said it will spend $300,000 this year on the exterior, while the province has chipped in $500,000 for that work and the LunenburgAcademy Foundation is committed to raising $200,000.

'We have a lot of work to do'

LunenburgMayorRachel Baileysaid more work needs to be done on the roof, along with an exterior paint joband window, door and trim repair. Plus, plenty of work is still needed on the interior before it's ready.

"We won't be recruiting tenants vigorously in the near futurejust because we have a lot of work to do. That will be a challenge for people to work through inside the building," said Bailey.

The town wants to turn the former school into a multi-use cultural, entrepreneurial and educational space, providing a home for a mix of non-profit organizations and for-profit businesses with the idea that some of the tenants' rent will offset capital costs.

The money the province is giving for the exterior work is part of a$1-million commitment to the overall project that was announced earlier this year.

Expensive project

The full restoration of the heritage building will take years to complete and is expected to set the town back millions of dollars.

"We recognize that maintaining a historic building of this stature is beyond the capacity of a very small town," said Bailey.

But she saida business plan was created a few years ago and council is confident funding will come from a variety of sources.

On top of the costly exterior renovations, the town budgeted $500,000this yearto move the local library into the academy.

Library plans

Bailey said none of the federal money announced Wednesdaywill go toward relocatingthe library.

She said the plan is to use some of the provincial money to cover that expense, along with $67,000 from the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency.

Bailey said the rest of the money needed for the library relocation is expected to come from private and community donations. She said an anonymous $50,000 donation came in within the past week.

The town has broken the project into two phases. The first phase ofconstruction is expected to get underway right away.

"We awarded the contract [Tuesday]night at our council meeting and we're looking forward to the work beginning very soon," said Bailey.