Locals band together to rebuild clubhouse that burned down on Ward's Island

Talia Ricci · CBC News

· Posted: May 14, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 31 minutes ago

Volunteers are digging holes and putting up woody beams astatine the tract wherever the Ward's Island Association Clubhouse erstwhile stood.

The historical operation was built by members successful 1937 and, astir 90 years later, residents are bringing it backmost to life.

"We are gathering a impermanent staging area/pavilion," said Alison Gzowski, president of the Ward's Island Association.

"Until we physique a clubhouse, which volition instrumentality a while, we wanted to person a spot wherever we could proceed to person assemblage events," she said.

In March past year, a monolithic occurrence destroyed the clubhouse and Island Café. A impermanent replacement for the cafe opened adjacent doorway to the tract successful the summertime months.

And now, a spot that tin service arsenic a gathering spot aims to seizure what the clubhouse erstwhile was: an important gathering spot for life's milestone moments, specified arsenic weddings, funerals, birthdays and assemblage events.

Martin Earl, a lifelong land resident, came up with the thought and is overseeing the project, moving alongside his 2 sons. He's a retired carpenter, but this enactment is fuelled by decades of memories.

"I retrieve doing the hokey pokey successful determination erstwhile I was little, and it was a beauteous wood building," Earl said.

"I wanted to make definite this was going to beryllium amusive and all, and truthful far, if you look astatine immoderate pictures that anybody's taking, everybody smiling," helium said.

Those smiles scope successful property from young kids to residents successful their 80s similar Andrew Peace.

"I'm slower than the young guys, but I could inactive enactment successful a afloat day," Peace said, adding it's amusive to enactment with his neighbours.

"It's ever been a do-it-yourself happening connected the land for a batch of projects," Peace said. "Almost each 1 of the clubhouses were built conscionable with unpaid labour."

The association, which is backing the materials, said the extremity is to person the pavilion built successful roughly 12 weeks.