70 Years Ago
January 14, 1948
– The Napanee Board of Education was hopeful that after receiving definitive pricing for building a new West Ward school, the project would receive the go-ahead from the province.
The Ontario Municipal Board had rejected a previous request from council to build the school as pricing was not definite and its members felt taxpayers should know the final numbers.
Building committee member W.E. Roy noted the cost was $214,500 with $17,440 for electrical service and $49.479 for plumbing and heating.
The board had just built a new two-room school for its East Ward to accommodate 62 students.
– The ferry boat crossing between Adolphustown and Glenora was expected to reach record numbers for the amount of times it was able to cross the Adolphus Reach in winter. With a good wide channel open, service has not been interrupted since the season began.
– Napanee Collegiate Vocational Institute principal C.E. Jamieson advocated for the creation of an agricultural lab within the school. He said the lab could be built for $2,000 and it would result in increased grants from the province.
Jamieson reminded the board years ago it missed an opportunity to build a complete workshop with space to teach household science, dressmaking and millinery at a reasonable cost, but it turned down the proposition at the time.
40 Years Ago
January 11, 1978
– The value of construction activity and development in Richmond Township in 1977 exceeded similar activities in the Town of Napanee. Permits issued by the township were worth $1,863,000, while those in Napanee were worth $1,759.669. One of the permits inflating the value of Richmond development was the $830,000 construction of the Village Green nursing home near Selby.
– The Town of Napanee purchased the Beaver Lumber building and a four-and-a-half acre property on Water Street for $110,000. It would lease the store back to the company for two years while it invests $500,000 in building a new store on Hwy 41 near Hwy 401. The town declared an interest in purchasing the Water Street property as part of efforts under a Neighbourhood Improvement Program designation.
– Odessa-area trustee Phil Benest resigned his chairmanship of the Lennox and Addington County Board of Education due to health reasons. In his final meeting, Benest criticized the board following a year of dissention and urged colleagues to end “tin can politics” and focus on student needs.