About 300 residents of Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh gathered to celebrate the official opening of the Kingsbridge Centre last night. The building had been the St. Joseph's Catholic Church until it was closed in 2012.
Jennifer Miltenburg is a director on the committee formed to renovate the former church and says the church was the only meeting place for the community, and they weren't prepared to see that disappear. They formed a charitable organization, bought the church from the diocese for $1 and set about renovating the building and bringing it up to current code.
Miltenburg says the renovations aren't complete yet, but the main floor is now open for community gatherings and concerts and they're ready to start work on the basement, which will create smaller meeting rooms and well as update the kitchen and furnace room.
Dignitaries in attendance last night included Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh Reeve Ben Van Diepenbeek, Huron County Warden Paul Gowing and Huron-Bruce MP Ben Lobb.