Old church to be revitalized as music venue and performance hall

Borden-Carleton, P.E.I., will get a new music venue and performance space this summer, in what used to be a church.

The town's United Church has been purchased by the Borden Area Development Corporation (BADC) and will be transformed into The Harbour Hall.

Barbara Wood, chairperson of the BADC, said the church is one of two in Borden-Carleton. Built in 1948, the church closed its doors in 2017.

She said the other church a Catholic church was previously sold to a private buyer, and it was important this church remained in the community.

"We wanted to make sure that this time, our last church wouldn't go into the hands of a private owner, we'd like to keep it in our community for a cultural centre," she said.

As the building sat vacant for a year, the community talked about what they wanted to see the church become, which served as the basis for the Harbour Hall.

"The idea just came from general conversations at the coffee shop for example, 'Wouldn't it be nice to have that as a hall?'" Wood said.

"We said well there you go. That's what people want. That's what people have been asking for."

Renovation of the church is underway. Wood said the BADC will not be changing the character of the church too much, and the interior and exterior will remain mostly the same.

Going forward the organization will look at more potential uses for the space. Wood said it's open to all options including a restaurant or a coffee shop.

Members of the community and other individuals looking to host will also be able to rent the hall.

Hopes that Harbour Hall will increase tourism to town

The new venue fits into Borden-Carleton's Master Plan, a plan designed to draw more tourists to the area after they cross the Confederation Bridge, Wood explained.

"Hopefully we'll get this to the point where it's our well-known little town of Borden-Carleton and people say, 'Oh they have a Harbour Hall, a nice little venue to go visit and see,'" she said.

The BADC is looking to form a Friends of the Harbour Hall committee to assist on fundraising initiatives.

The Harbour Hall plans to its doors on June 21, 2019 for the P.E.I. Mutual Festival of Small Halls when it will host Scottish band Rura.

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