Of the 149 days the Tec-We-Gwill Hall was utilized in 2019, 134 were taken up by the Tec-We-Gwill Women’s Institute. Its total bill to the town: $282.50.
Now Bradford West Gwillimbury councillors want staff to provide options on how booking practices for the Newton Robinson hall can be fairer to other residents of the community who aren’t associated with the Women’s Institute.
Council received a report on the usage of the hall during its April 4 meeting, generated by a request that began with residents being upset about not being able to book the days they desired to use the space. Try as they might, the dates never seem to be available, already blocked for Tec-We-Gwill uses, they say.
For the amount of money the Women’s Institute is spending compared to the combined other users, it just doesn’t seem right, Deputy Mayor Raj Sandhu said.
“I think we need to take back and review this contract,” he said. “I want to send this back to staff and see if we can open this contract up and make it fair for everyone.”
Staff provided figures for 2019 that show of the 149 days the hall was booked, 15 days were reserved by non-Tec-We-Gwill groups, including the historical society, a garden club, the town and other private users.
Community groups contributed $771.23 in revenue to the hall, while $672.36 was generated by private users.
The total revenue of $1,726.09 paled in comparison to the $12,200 in operating costs for 2019, or the nearly $25,000 in capital improvements since the town purchased the building from the Women’s Institute for $1 in 2015. At the time, it was hoped to be an asset for all the residents of the community, but in practice, the deal has benefited Tec-We-Gwill more than any other group, said Coun. Peter Ferragine.
Ferragine – who, like Sandhu, was on council when the hall was purchased – was the one who suggested the issue go back to staff, with a request for them to provide further options to consider. He stressed the town find a way to make it fair or make it go away.
“Does the town say (to Tec-We-Gwill) you can have a set amount of meeting dates and then you have to pay per function, and everything else you do, just like everybody else does,” he said. “Or do we look at off-loading the building? Do we look at selling the building back to Tec-We-Gwill and cutting our losses? Because it’s a money pit and it seems to be utilized by one specific group.”
Tec-We-Gwill Hall is located on Line 10, west of County Road 27, in Newton Robinson. It was first built in 1935 as the Orange Lodge in the village. It was the first Orange Lodge to receive a warrant in Simcoe County and the last to surrender it.
The Tec-We-Gwill Women’s Institute was founded in 1947 by women looking to make their community a better place to live, by promoting social and family life skills in the rural areas of Tecumseth and West Gwillimbury. Typically, meetings were held in members' homes, and eventually in the Orange Lodge. In Jan. 1986, the Orangemen offered the hall to the women's institute, who then became the official owners.
With files from Village Media.
