Kensington legion plans to sell land to developer
Deal means developer owns land, but a smaller legion branch will remain on site
The Royal Canadian Legion in Kensington will look a little bit different in the near future.
On Saturday, some of its 200 members voted to approve a tentative deal with an international developer as a way to keep the legion at its current location.
The legion has been struggling financially for the last several years and has made several attempts to increase revenue by expanding to a sports bar and renting out other rooms in the building.
This new deal now means the international developer will get the land the legion sits on, which is valued at $ 8-million dollars.
In exchange, the legion will get a new branch at the same location, but it will be half the size of the existing building.
Jim Jessop voted in favour of the project saying the only other option was to keep pouring money into the aging, 60-year-old building which is too big for their needs.
"Without that it's gone this building over 50 years old, it's getting
dilapidated," Jessop said.
Legion command is expected to approve the deal with construction starting as early as next summer.