The pathway to connect Morden and Winkler through the RM of Stanley corridor got another financial boost this week from a local service organization.
The Morden Elks Lodge presented a $5,000 donation to the project Oct. 9.
“Predominantly, the funds come from our Cash is King lottery, which we’ve been running for the last 12 years or so … it helps community projects like this,” said Elk Gary Graboweski. “It’s just the fact that it was a community thing … I just thought this was a perfect fit because it does kind of join the two communities, and we’ll have everybody from both communities using it, and hopefully the people will support our lotteries in the future to support good projects like this.”
He also recognized the value of supporting and promoting activity and good health.
“We can all use it for whatever level of activity you’re at,” Graboweski said. “I hope everybody enjoys it.”
Pathway committee chairperson and Stanley Trail Association director and member James Friesen said it feels meaningful to be getting support from such a wide range of sources.
“Out of the blue you get a call and can we give you some money?” he said.
“That’s perfect because it tells us that community members are hearing about it. There’s support for it, and having an organization like the Elks let’s you know,” he said. “They’ve got a long history in the community, and they look at projects like this as something that’s valuable to the membership as well as the broader community, so it’s a real vote of confidence for us.”
Friesen was also happy last week to be able to finally acknowledge the official announcement of the federal government’s funding for this project. The Government of Canada is investing $2.1 million through the Active Transportation Fund.
“This new pathway will provide residents of Winkler, Morden and the surrounding areas with a safe and accessible way to connect with their neighbours, local services and the Boundary Trails Health Centre,” said Gregor Robertson, federal minister of housing and infrastructure. “By making it easier for people to walk, cycle and stay active, this project will help connect communities and support healthier lifestyles.”
Friesen noted the commitment represents about half of the overall project cost. The three municipalities have each provided $750,000, and another $1.8 million has come in through community donations.
“For us it tipped it over in terms of saying, okay, we’ve got to do this thing now,” Friesen said of the federal funds, which were committed to the project a few years ago but not officially announced until now. “It’s wonderful to finally go public on that one. The federal funding agreement we had with them goes back three years, so they’ve been walking alongside us over all the years of funding.”
Friesen noted, however, that they still need more support for the project—perhaps up to another $800,000—but it is exciting to be near the finish line.
“To be able to say to the community too that we’ve done our work in terms of grant writing … and so now we’re going to the community and businesses and so on to close the gap … let’s make this thing go.”
Friesen added the challenge from the Winkler and Morden community foundations to match contributions up to $50,000 remains in play.
“We’re closing the gap on that … so recognize that if you give us a hundred dollars, it’s leveraged to another hundred with the foundations contributing,” he said, estimating they were at about $35,000 last week, so that challenge has about another $15,000 to go.
Finally, the question in everyone’s mind is when will the pathway be open for use? While the much of it is complete, it is still technically under construction and so the public is asked to stay off of it.
“We know it’s a beautiful fall, and people are just itching to get on there,” said Friesen. “The official is it’s still a construction site, so we’re asking for people to be a little patient. We hope to announce a grand opening of the pathway soon.”
