Spaniard’s Bay council stands by refusal to host the grad

By Olivia Bradbury, Local ournalism Initiative Reporter

Spaniard’s Bay council has doubled down on its decision to not allow Holy Redeemer’s Grade 9 class to hold its graduation in the basement of the town hall.

Council had previously received and rejected a request to host the graduation in the building, parts of which can be rented out for events. In the case of the Grade 9 students, staff had deemed the event would exceed the building’s fire capacity for attendees.

That decision attracted a spate of letters, which council addressed at its most recent meeting on March 10.

“Council at the time did not feel that it would be safe to have an outside function of our children downstairs if it wasn’t up to fire code,” said Mayor Tammy Oliver.

Councillor Sherry Lundrigan noted one letter argued that council has hosted a haunted house in the basement before. But, she countered, the haunted house never had more than 50-60 people inside at a time, and in any event, was a council activity.

“We do have access to all the building if anything should happen,” said Lundrigan. She added there were always adults present during the activities, herself included.

“Even though it’s a lovely place downstairs to have a rental, I think that at this time we should still stand at our decision,” said Lundrigan.

“At the end of the day, when the fire marshal says we’re not at that standard, we’re not at that standard,” said Councillor Darren Smith.

He added that, as a parent, he would not let his children attend an event in a space that did not meet fire regulations.

“It’s certainly something I think council can work on,” said Mayor Oliver, pointing out the fire chief has given council a list of items that could raise the fire safety and capacity of the room. However, Oliver reiterated that it would not be safe to hold the graduation at this time.