Region of Queens councillors have granted a funding request from the Brooklyn Recreation Committee. (File photo by Rick Conrad)

The Brooklyn Recreation Committee, which operates the Brooklyn Community Hall, the Hank Snow playground and Brooklyn Waterfront Park, has been given a grant of almost $6,000 to finish work on the hall.

At their Sept. 23 meeting, councillors unanimously approved a request from the society from the Community Investment Fund for fixing trim, walls and drywall as well as painting the whole interior of the building.

The group had asked for $8,976 under the fund’s capital investment portion. But councillors accepted a staff recommendation for $5,999.71 in funding.

The recreation committee said it needed help to pay for the final work after completing significant upgrades like new windows and heat pumps.

The region charges Brooklyn residents an area rate on behalf of the non-profit society. That rate is expected to generate $49,761 in revenue in 2026 to help with maintenance of the playground, park, hall and the cemetery in Brooklyn.

Before the request, $71,000 was left in the region’s Community Investment Fund to fund eligible applications.

“Accounting best practice would not normally consider painting and the repairing of trim a capital expense, however, it could be considered the final phase of the capital work that has taken place over the last year involving conservable investment in the hall and remediation of some damage caused by the installation,” according to the staff report from Steve Burns, community economic development officer.

District 4 Coun. Vicki Amirault declared a conflict and did not vote on the matter.

More than 70 people turned out for the Astor Theatre Society’s annual general meeting on Monday evening in Liverpool. (Rick Conrad)

After years of discussing the need for it, the board of the Astor Theatre says that 2024 will be the year that they get serious about securing funding for a modern HVAC system.

The 122-year-old building has only ceiling fans in its performance space, making it pretty steamy in the middle of the summer.

The Astor Theatre Society board announced at their annual general meeting on Monday night that it plans to go after federal and provincial funding this year to make the whole building more energy-efficient and to install a state-of-the-art heat pump system.

That system would keep the Astor cool in the summer and warm in the winter. They also plan to replace windows, reinsulate the roof and change all lighting to energy-efficient LEDs.

Board member Lynn Cochrane told about 70 people gathered for the AGM that the board will work with the Region of Queens, which owns the building, to ensure they maintain the structural integrity and acoustics of the Astor.

She said it’s part of a major capital campaign that the Astor will launch this year.

They also plan to create an endowment fund, supported by corporate and individual donations, to ensure the Astor’s financial security.

“It is our Astor,” Cochrane said. “So this endowment will protect it for many years, and hopefully save us from having to go hand to mouth with our finances every year.”

The Astor also got a $100,000 donation from the Greenfield-based sawmill Harry Freeman and Son Limited. 

Board chairman John Simmonds told members that the Astor is in good financial shape, even though it reported a $40,393 deficit for the nine months ending Dec. 31.

The theatre’s total audience last year from April 1 to Dec. 31 was about 12,000, with 60 per cent of that coming from Queens County and 40 per cent from outside the region.

“So we’ve had a lot of people through these doors,” Simmonds said.

The first four months of 2024, however, were stronger, with 18 events bringing almost 3,750 people to the theatre, and a net gain of $27,900.

The Astor hosted many popular concerts and events from January to April, including the late February/early March production of Follies, its first adult musical production since 2018.

“The last few months have been very important to the Astor, we’ve been so successful, we’ve had so much going on,” Simmonds said.

He said the board plans to sign a 10-year lease with the region, which will help the Astor in its fundraising goals. 

“It also gives us an opportunity to go after grants that require a 10-year lease so that we can establish to the grantors that we are going to stay around for a long time. So that could bring in some fairly big numbers to allow us to do some of the things we want to do.”

The Astor’s net assets as of Monday’s AGM are $232,000, according to treasurer Loris Azzano.

The Astor Theatre Society’s members also voted to add three new people to the board of directors, bringing the total to 11.

They are Melanie Atkinson, who also volunteers at QCCR, Terri Faber and Cynthia Walker.

They join Simmonds, Azzano, Cochrane, Anne Espenant, Willo Treschow, Dan Williams, Heather White Brittain and Colleen Wolfe.

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

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