Final building designs approved for RR House

News Release
RR House

The Main Committee Meeting on Friday September 9, 2011 approved the final design presented by the Building Committee. The Building Committee put forth their recommendation following extensive meetings during the past week with designing architect Claude Lord and engineering consultant Dean Bethune of Saulteaux Consulting & Engineering.
A major change was the design of the foundation from a concrete pad to footing/stub wall with a crawl space. This change facilitated several options including the ease and flexibility of installing plumbing and heating systems, as well as taking pressure off the site preparation work needed prior to construction.
Additional adjustments to the proposed tender will facilitate the use of ‘donations in kind’ in the construction process. Tender documents will be completed in a matter of days, with tender calls advertised immediately thereafter. This will allow construction to begin and critical foundation concrete work to be completed prior to freeze up. The Building Committee is to be commended for their dedicated hard work and ability to build a consensus. Congratulations.
Fund raising committee chair, Norma Elliott summarized efforts to date and ongoing plans throughout the community including events at the RRWT later this month. An updated list of donors to date, including ‘In Memoriam’ contributions will be published in coming reports. Many individuals and groups have devised innovative ways to contribute to Rainy River House and we will highlight some of their efforts in coming issues.
An example of community generosity is the Rainy River Giant Pumpkin Festival that disbanded a couple of years back after serving the community for over a decade. They donated all their remaining funds ($1,692.60) to the Rainy River Locum House Project.
“It was the right thing to do. After all we had received part of our initial funding from the Rainy River Horticultural Society when it ceased activity, and we thought it was an excellent way to continue support of our community by passing it on to Rainy River House,” stated Eltjo Wiersema past president of the Pumpkin Festival.