TRILLIUM
FOUNDATION GIVES BOOST TO PRESCOTT PROJECTS
PRESCOTT _ The Ontario Trillium
Foundation will assist the creation of two new
attractions in Prescott this summer, Leeds-Grenville
MPP Bob Runciman and members of the grant review
team announced today.
Trillium has approved $25,000 to
help the Prescott Skateboard Committee construct
a state-of-the-art, outdoor, concrete Skateboard
Park for the youth of Prescott on town-owned property
at the north end of Sophia Street.
A grant of $15,000 will provide
funds for the start-up of the St. Lawrence Shakespeare
Theatrical Company that opened its first production
of The Tempest in the Prescott waterfront amphitheatre
last week.
Runciman was in Prescott with members
of the Ontario Trillium Foundation today to announce
the grants and discuss the two projects. Each
year the foundation awards $100 million to a wide
range of projects across Ontario. The money is
provided through the proceeds of the casinos including
the St. Lawrence Charity Casino in Gananoque.
The skateboard committee was initiated
by a group of youngsters assisted by parents,
a town councillor and the recreation director.
The Kiwanis Club of Prescott is acting as lead
group in the new committee and will provide organizational
help in launching the new park.
The committee has already started
an ambitious fund-raising campaign to provide
the funding for the new park. The Trillium grant
will allow the committee to move forward with
the project in the near future. The park will
provide the youth of Prescott with a meeting place
at a permanent location.
"This is an important project
because it was initiated by the youth themselves,"
said Runciman. "I am pleased town leaders
and the Kiwanis Club have supported this effort
and Trillium funding will help make it happen."
The St. Lawrence Shakespeare Festival
opened to a packed house and great fanfare last
week. Last summer the principals staged a "pass
the hat" production in area parks last summer
and the enthusiasm led to the formation of the
new theatre company.
Company members envisage that annual
productions will develop into a major tourist
attraction in coming years and will allow people
in Eastern Ontario to see outstanding Shakespearean
productions.
The Trillium grant will foster enhanced
vitality of the Prescott waterfront and of the
local arts community leading to increased economic
benefits resulting from increased visitors to
Prescott.
"I am confident the production
of Shakespeare's plays at this picturesque amphitheatre
will grow into a major event for the Prescott
area," said Runciman.
Since its creation, the Ontario
Trillium Foundation has provided financial assistance
to thousands of worthwhile projects across the
province. The success of the program is that it
acts as a catalyst to community groups that have
already shown initiative and the determination
to volunteer their time and efforts to make their
projects a reality.
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