People in Manitou Beach, Sask. have launched a fundraising campaign to save the community’s beloved Danceland hall from ongoing water worries.
Built in 1930, the venue is believed to be one of only two remaining Canadian dance halls using horse hair to cushion their dance floors.
Wooden support beams beneath the hall haven’t been replaced in the nearly 90 years of Danceland’s existence and the pilings are starting to crumble and bend.
Recently, an engineering firm assessed the beams and told owners irreversible damage is possible in two to three years.
“It doesn’t look like it’s being threatened, but when you look at it closely, you can see that slowly, it could happen,” said co-owner Millie Strueby.
The price of stabilizing the building is $175,000 minimum, Strueby said.
A series of era-themed fundraisers, part of the “Save Danceland” campaign, seek to raise the money required.
A November fundraising gala and a crowdfunding page are also being considered, according to Bonnie Rawling, the head of the Danceland fundraising effort.
Donations can be made in person.
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Meanwhile, the 300-person resort community of Manitou Beach continues to grapple with a shoreline that has been dramatically disappearing for at least the past seven years.
Water levels on Little Manitou Lake, a salt water body, continue to rise because of heavy precipitation and a lack of drainage.
Last year, provincial officials completed work on a one-metre height extension for about 2.5 km of the Manitou Beach dyke system.
Since 2011, the province has spent roughly $7 million on flood protection, according to Saskatchewan’s Water Security Agency (WSA).
Manitou Beach mayor Gerald Worobec continues to argue for a diversion effort to turn away fresh water currently pouring into the lake.
Diverted water would flow into nearby Boulder Lake, then Last Mountain Lake.
However, he said the province is making it too difficult and too expensive to create a diversion.
“The parameters set out by the Water Security Agency have made that task monumental. It’s like a David and Goliath situation,” Worobec said.
Under the WSA’s requirements, the village would need to bring a plan to the agency or create a watershed association including other municipalities affected by the diversion.
“If the project comes forward, then we’ll certainly review it, but funding wise, probably better accessed for something like that through the Building Canada fund or other ways of funding it,” said WSA spokesperson Patrick Boyle.
Boyle noted berms protecting Manitou Beach could be built higher if water levels continue to climb.
“Ultimately, at the end of the day, we’re trying to ensure that the community is protected in the best way possible,” Boyle said.
Manitou Beach is roughly 90 kilometres southeast of Saskatoon.
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