Murray Harbour Community Centre preps for emergencies with $185K in upgrades

The Murray Harbour Community Centre has received significant renovations to help it better support the community, especially in times of emergency.

The upgrades, which took more than two months to complete and cost around $185,000, were made possible through multiple funding sources, including the P.E.I. government's Rural Growth Initiative and Reception Centre Resiliency Fund.

Along with the renovations, the centre is now officially designated as one of the province's reception centres, a place where residents can find shelter, food, power and support during emergencies, including the aftermath of severe weather events.

Pam Oickle, a Murray Harbour councillor and chair of the municipality's Emergency Measures Organization (EMO) committee, said it's crucial for small communities like hers to have local emergency centres.

"Part of the issue is that we are unlikely to be first on the list for the restoration of power, water, anything like that," she told CBC's Island Morning.

"In addition, we tend to be surrounded by a large number of unincorporated areas that don't have a hub to access. So we serve a very large community that we view as... our neighbours, but in actual fact, they may not actually live right in the municipality."

Improving emergency preparedness

Improvements already completed include accessible door entrances, steel kitchen countertops that are easier to clean and disinfect, new appliances, heaters in the bathrooms, and a new passageway from the main hall to the rear entrance.

Oickle said the need for upgrades became clear after the devastating impact of post-tropical storm Fiona nearly three years ago.

The storm left many Island communities, including Murray Harbour, without electricity for days or even weeks.

"Our community centre became a hub for those folks during that time," she said.

The centre, which had a generator, managed to provide residents with hot meals and a place to charge their phones.

"Most folks in this area are not on municipal water and sewers, so this gave them an opportunity to have access to clean water as well," Oickle said.

That experience made it clear the centre needed to become an official reception centre, she said.

The designation allows the facility to apply for provincial grants to retrofit spaces with the equipment and upgrades necessary to support residents in emergencies.

"We needed to work with our provincial EMO partners in order to receive that designation, and when they come in and have a look around, there's very specific things that they have listed in order to meet that requirement," she said.

"We also needed to have a visit from our fire marshal in order to ensure that we were compliant with all the fire codes."

"Once that was all complete, then we were able to receive our designation, which then meant that we were able to apply for grants as well."

But Oickle said not everything could be covered through government funding.

"There is a certain amount of funding that needs to be done by the community itself."

Some planned projects are still on hold, including the installation of a washer and dryer, as well as a shower.