Starting next month, the Pride Centre of Edmonton‘s building downtown will more than double in size, but the organization is looking for some help as it moves into its expanded space.
“It’s an amazing opportunity for us as a charity, but part of that deal is that we needed to take on some of those costs and some of the labour and so really, we’re just calling on the community to help us to get through the very last stretch so that we can reopen in September in this bright and airy new space,” said Kristy Harcourt, acting executive director of the Pride Centre of Edmonton.
The Pride Centre has secured funding for 80 per cent of the renovation costs but hopes to raise $30,000 to help get over the finish line. As a result, it has launched a fundraising website and is also looking for volunteers to help them pack and move.
The organization, which offers programs, support and resources about the diversity of sexual orientation and gender identity, is renovating the second floor of its current building.
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The decision to expand came after the Pride Centre was approached by its current landlord, who was struggling to rent out the space on the second floor.
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“The landlord here has been wonderful,” Harcourt said on Friday. “Second floors are harder to rent than storefronts, so they’ve offered us basically more than twice as much space for very close to the same rent.”
The renovation will see the centre’s current space go from 1,900 square-feet to 4,600 square-feet.
“The new space is a much bigger, brighter, fully accessible and will service all the needs of the Pride Centre of Edmonton’s many and varied programs and activities for years to come.”
According to Harcourt, the community services centre, which focuses on sexual orientation and gender identity, has seen a spike in demand recently for a number of reasons.
“Those are bigger populations – populations we didn’t always serve – and we’re thrilled to serve them, thrilled to welcome them into our community, but we need some help to have enough space for everybody to feel welcome and to be served well.”
The new digs will include private counselling and meeting rooms, a kitchen and more space for the LGBTQ library, which the organization touts as the largest in western Canada.
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