By TERRY PUGH
A former one-room schoolhouse south of Saskatoon will soon be hosting community events once again after being closed for several years.
Renovations are currently underway to repair and rebuild the front entrance foyer and washroom of the Merrill Community Centre. The renovations also include larger doorways to make it more accessible, and reinforcing the basement foundation.
Austin Doerksen, a member of the construction crew with EBS Designs working on the project, said he expects the renovations to be completed later this month.
“It’s looking a lot different than it did a few weeks ago,” said Doerksen in an interview at the site November 28. “We knocked out the plaster, peeled it back to the bare bones, and we’re rebuilding the bathroom and the front entrance to make it usable again.
“It’s amazing how well-constructed this old building is. It’s really well-built, but it just needed some attention. It’s a real treasure for the area, so it’s nice to see it be accessible for the community once again.”
The Merrill School was built in 1906 and closed in the late 1960s. In 1981, the building was partially restored and began a new life as a community centre for residents of the area. Over the years, it’s served as a meeting place, voting hall, and informal recreational facility. Periodic repairs to the building by volunteers kept it functioning until a few years ago, when the heat was turned off one winter, which led to frozen pipes that eventually burst. Consequently, the floor in the bathroom and front entrance heaved, making it unusable.
Doerksen said the crew of two to three workers working on the project couldn’t help but be impressed with the workmanship of the original builders. The concrete basement foundation shows only a few cracks.
“That’s typical for older foundations,” said Doerksen. “And to find so few in a building that’s almost 120 years old is incredible. We sealed them up; and then we added some additional framing around the basement walls, just as a safety precaution. This building is still really sturdy. They used heavy, solid lumber in those days, not like the light wood we use today.”
The building itself is owned by the RM of Corman Park, and is maintained and operated by volunteer members of the local community association.
The RM of Corman Park recently allocated $40,000 to renovate the building,
Late in 2022, the Merrill Hills Community Improvement Project (MHCIP) was launched to revitalize the overall site at the Merrill Community Centre.
Thanks to a grant from the municipality, an ambitious project was undertaken in the summer and fall of 2023, when several new amenities were built at the site, including an outdoor rink and warm-up shelter, a playground, gazebo, toboggan hill and outdoor fire pit. EBS Designs won the contract for the outdoor project in a competitive bid process.
Last winter, the rink was a busy place.
But, without access to the Community Centre building, it was lacking a central focus.
The RM council found the funding earlier this year to do the renovations to the building, a move which was welcomed by MHCIP President Betty Aasen.
“The repairs to the building were really the missing link that we needed to complete the revitalization of the community centre site,” said Aasen. “Lots of people were asking if they could use the old school for events in inclement weather during the summer. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to rent it out because of the condition of the bathroom. It simply wasn’t safe to use.
` “Now, we’ll be able to rent it out to groups, and we’ll also be able to use it for community events and as a gathering place, like it was in the past.”
Aasen said the new facilities at the former school grounds are once again a focal point for residents of the area.
“It’s really brought the community together again,” she said. “We’re very proud of what’s been done here. It’s a perfect recreational spot for families.”