Oakville raises millions towards the creation of new community centre [Video]

A new community hall in Oakville is bringing life to the town’s residents – and it’s been more than 15 years in the making.

“For a community to be a strong community, it needs a place to gather and without this building, we’d have nowhere to gather,” said Dennis Galbraith, committee chair, for the Oakville Community Centre Renewal.

If you head down the Trans-Canada Highway towards Portage la Prairie, you may notice a sign for the small farming community of about 650 people that has roots dating back to 1891.

Galbraith’s family has farmed there for more than a century. In 2008, he began leading discussions on how to replace an aging community hall.

The original structure built in 1949, was declared structurally unsafe after the community conducted a feasibility study in 2014. With a limited lifespan left on the old farm machine-style shed, residents took action and determined a …