Revelstoke gets Columbia Basin Trust grant to help repair city hall

Badly needed repairs to the exterior of Revelstoke City Hall are one step closer to becoming reality.

The City of Revelstoke received $200,000 through Columbia Basin Trust’s Built Heritage Grants fund. The grant will go towards covering the cost of much needed work on the exterior of city hall.

“Heritage buildings are markers of our history, add character to our communities and remain valuable for many types of activities,” said Wayne Lundeberg, Columbia Basin Trust Director, Delivery of Benefits. “Improving them for both today and tomorrow—whether they’re important architecturally, culturally, visually, for tourism or otherwise—is one of our priorities.”

Dawn Low, city of Revelstoke director of corporate administration, said the total estimated cost of the rehabilitation project for city hall is estimated to be $600,000.

“That includes a feasibility study, requests for proposals, and design drawings,” she said.

Low said the estimated cost is high because rehabilitation of the building will include a lead abatement process. The planters in front of city hall also need to be replaced as they are cracked.

The rehabilitation will include covering the building with another stucco system that will mimic the look of the original building.

“Last year, city council directed staff to take off the stucco on part of the building to see if we could go back to the original,” said Low. “We can’t restore deteriorating cement.”

Repairs to city hall were removed from this year’s budget. Low said while there is funding in building reserves to help cover the additional costs, she is looking to apply for additional grant funding.

The Built Heritage Grants fund is a three-year, $6.15 million funding program aimed at helping groups preserve heritage structures.