A bit over a century ago, there stood an eight-sided house along the old highway 17 between Cobden and Pembroke. This and other such houses were built to ward off evil spirits. When the contract for the new entranceway at the Westmeath Hall was awarded along with its high-energy demands, I too felt I might need a way of warding off evil spirits.
It all began with a phone call in February 2019 from Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF) at exactly 11:42 am. “Congratulations Mr. Grylls, your application for an OTF grant has been successful.” After some details were discussed, he said, “I hope I didn’t spoil your lunch,” but he did.
What do I do? Who do I call? Of course, call the Project Manager (PM). I telephoned him with news. His response was, “I don’t believe it.” That portent sent a chill through my bones and made my blood run cold. Was this a sign of an evil spirit poking around?
I started worrying about it from that first day, until the flood of the century hit the Westmeath shores. Any thoughts of this project were put on pause for months for more pressing matters. Admittedly, I wouldn’t have minded if the whole community centre had floated downriver as well.
We had until April 30, 2020 for the entranceway’s completion. One would think that would be plenty of time, but no. I was told It couldn’t interfere with Canada Day’s chicken barbecue, held in temperatures so hot the chickens cooked in half the time. Then the cycling tour of ‘spokes and mirrors’ a week later.
It should have started afterwards but a special wedding booked three years in advance would be life-threatening if cancelled. The couple are hopefully wedded in total bliss. Finally, the big church dinner held on the last Sunday in August.
A thousand hungry eaters were too perilous to meddle with.
The contractor was given the go-ahead the very next morning. There was even a fair turnout of folks, including myself, to see the dismantling of the old entranceway. By that evening I was getting phone calls, “When are they going to start.”
The same question persisted in downpours for the next four weeks. Engineering drawings needed to be converted to shop drawings. That was only the first of many diversions that caught me off guard. Why the need for a second set – the explanation didn’t make sense to me nor too anyone else. I’m making an excuse, they said.
As we witnessed the older structure being dismantled for scrap, I fretted, “What if the contract went south and there was no entrance at all. The spirits warning was close to the truth – but I didn’t recognize it yet.
During the downtime, most people used the emergency exit stairs, complaining every step of the way. One careless teen tumbled down them but no broken bones. The elusive deadline for finishing the job was Dec 1st, so not to interfere with our annual Christmas Dinner & Dance. The contractor was doing their level best to at least get us and the band a way into the Hall, even if it was with temporary planking.
Before that all played out, another catastrophe occurred, typical in an evil spirit’s arsenal. An unforeseen artisan well on the job site was struck by an excavator, releasing colossal amounts of water, reminiscence of the spring flood. It drowned out the little optimism I had remaining. The edges of winter-like weather put the project on hold until warmer climes. In March Covid-19 was the next lethal blow, leaving a completion date up in the air.
A couple of my friends told me not to worry about what people were saying behind my back. “It’s not your fault.” Was that supposed to be reassuring?
Finally, contractors were allowed back to work. Progress was slow but nobody minded too much. The Hall wasn’t destined to open until October with limited numbers at any one time. The vast majority weren’t ready to chance coming back to the Hall anyway.
The irony hit home in a committee meeting when someone candidly said, “This project is one-year-old, and it’s not even finished.” It was comedy relief, and I couldn’t help but chuckle.
The ramp development eventually ended – without any dramatics. It will have an official closing by late in November. Like the ambience everywhere, it too will be low-key.
With evil spirits giving up the ghost, I can sense the rationale of it all; a structure taking two decades to materialize, is now completed, appealing and safe, sustaining our community well into the future.
