MULGRAVE – A former school building that stopped holding classes in 2017 has enjoyed a new life since that time and is now preparing for further expansion, thanks to a partnership between a community development group and officials with Mulgrave Town Council.

The Strait Regional School Board (SRSB) officially shut down Mulgrave Memorial Education Centre at the end of the 2016-17 academic year. Local parents, residents and municipal officials had successfully lobbied the board to give the school a one-year reprieve in the hopes of major economic developments that would lure young families back to Mulgrave, but those opportunities failed to materialize over the following 12 months, leading to the permanent school closure.

However, the non-profit Mulgrave and Area Revitalization Association (MARA) has worked with town council to make the former school site, now re-christened as Mulgrave Memorial Centre, into a multi-purpose facility capable of holding several public events and housing multiple tenants. The building is now home to the official Mulgrave municipal offices, the local branch of the Guysborough County Business Development Centre, and the Scotia Café, a restaurant run independently by Mulgrave town councillor and local entrepreneur Tanya Snow.

The building has also successfully hosted many of the town’s athletic and recreation programs in its gymnasium, which has also served as the site for standalone events ranging from the Mulgrave Marina Market and dinner theatres hosted by the Guysborough Players company.

As a result, according to Mayor Ralph Hadley, MARA has raised over $16,000 over the past three years, enabling the group to pay back the town for an initial investment of $5,200 connected to minor repairs and refurbishments to the former school building.

Speaking to reporters following the February public meeting of Mulgrave Town Council, which took place at Mulgrave Memorial Centre, Mayor Hadley confirmed that the town has received approval for a grant from the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA). These funds will help the town hire a Newfoundland-based consulting firm to assess the town’s best options for attracting new tenants and continuing to schedule new public activities in the building. The mayor is confident that this assessment will lead to more tenancies in the coming year.