New hall still on track for New Year opening

BOWDEN – Construction of the new Bowden Community Hall remains on schedule thanks to the recent warm weather.

“We're still hoping to be done for New Year's,” said Wayne Milaney, Bowden council's representative on the project.

Work on the project began in August.

The 10,750-square-foot facility is located on 3.2 acres of land at the north end of Bowden along Highway 2A (27th Avenue) and 22nd Street. The budget for the new hall is $1.7 million.

It will replace the approximately 70-year-old Bowden Lions Hall, located just behind Main Street.

Milaney says “incredible” weather this fall has been a big factor in keeping the project on track.

“It always is, right? I mean, you know, when you're taking your gloves off and putting them on 20, 30 times a day, it slows you down. So I think it's definitely been a plus.”

Workers are currently doing drywall and painting. Drywall and mudding are expected to be completed by the end of this week. Milaney says painting should be finished in another week or so.

After that, flooring will be laid down.

And the utilities are all in too.

Workers are preparing the exterior for the installation of stucco and decorative stonework.

“They're putting on the paper and wire right now for the stucco,” Milaney says.

He says the stone will go on columns and on decorative panels.

The stone mason was expected to begin work this week and be at it for about two weeks.

“I'm thinking it'll take him two weeks because we probably have to hoard for him; like we put tarps around it and put a little heat in there so the mortar doesn't freeze,” he says.

There are no windows in the building, except for the front doors.

There's good reason for that, according to Milaney.

“Most auditoriums, you know, you put windows in and then you put blinds on them because you can't do a slide show or anything like that,” he says, adding windows can also affect sound in the building.

Milaney says most of the work on the hall has been done by local people and companies.

“We have strived to employ local people and local subtrades,” he says.

However, Milaney admits that's not always possible.

“(In) a little town like this, like, you can't always get contractors that are capable of handling a project of that size. But we've had very good cooperation with everybody – the town and the county have been very gracious in their help,” he says.