Migration Hall to Host Online Community Auction Starting May 1
In the late 1980s, a group of dedicated high school teachers and community leaders joined together to map out a plan for a multipurpose community use facility, and by 1991 a public fundraising campaign began to make the dream a reality for the Kingsville community.
Confusing narratives regarding the ownership, funding, operating and community use for the facility — and how it is managed and governed, continue to circulate. Why is ongoing fundraising essential to support access for wider community use? The history of the facility from a concept to a thriving hub tells the story.
The original agreement for what was to become Migration Hall saw the public school board, the Town of Kingsville and the community coming together in a partnership to cover the capital investment — better known as the construction costs. When fundraising efforts by the community fell short of the needed capital goal, the original design was modified to fit the available funds.
In the end, the community fundraising efforts raised approximately $500K, with the balance of the $2M needed provided by the public school board as a loan from the board to the community. Alas, recessionary times and tight budgets yielded no direct additional funding from the community or the Town to address the agreed debt, and eventually the school board wrote off the debt and closed the loan.
With construction complete in 1994, students and staff at Kingsville District High School had a state-of-the-art multipurpose gymnatorium with flexible seating, superior acoustics, staging and house light and sound systems.
Migration Community Hall Kingsville (MCHK) opened its doors to the general public for community use with an inaugural sold-out concert performed by the popular a cappella group The Nylons.
Since that time, hundreds of wonderful events such as athletic and recreational activities, tournaments, professional performing artists and community groups, as well as service organizations have augmented the cultural and sporting experience in our area.
The Hall has hosted the Windsor Symphony, movie nights, blood donor clinics, community dinners, Olympic athlete receptions, memorial services, craft fairs, boxing matches, dance recitals — you name it!
Such notable artists as Burton Cummings, Red Green, Stompin’ Tom Connors, Stuart McLean and the Vinyl Café, Rita MacNeil, Emerson Drive are but a few who have graced the Hall stage. Community theatre for both adults and youth continues to be a well attended delight.
Since its launch, Migration Hall has been managed as a not-for-profit charitable organization by a dedicated volunteer Board of Directors, which oversees events that take place outside of school hours — generally on evenings, weekends and summer months.
As owner, the Greater Essex County District School Board facilitates and approves all community use of its buildings with a permit system. Migration Hall is considered an exceptional rental entity for community use, and therefore, fees for community use are jointly governed by the MCHK board, the KDHS principal and GECDSB Facility Services.
The GECDSB has priority of use of the building, and funds capital and operational costs such as physical upgrades, repairs, maintenance, utilities for the facility, its parking lot and its grounds.
The Migration Hall board assigns reasonable rental fees for community events, shows and productions, thus providing additional revenue to meet its operational and promotional costs not covered by the school board.
Additionally, as it has with other community groups, the Town of Kingsville has occasionally granted funds for Migration Hall to sponsor specific events and productions.
The GECDSB has been a tremendous partner to the Migration Hall community use board, being very supportive of requests that are asked of them. Our community would not have enjoyed the numerous theatre productions, musical events, cultural celebrations and sporting events for the past nearly 30 years without that generous support from them.
The GECDSB announced plans to resume regular community use access to all its buildings in October 2022, as we return to fewer COVID-restricted protocols where students have access. Restricted access over the last 2+ years has cancelled or postponed so many activities which enrich our lives — and would have provided that much needed revenue for Migration Hall to continue to offer equitable access for community use.
The Migration Hall is now asking the community for its support for ongoing operational costs until regular programming can resume in the fall. The MCHK looks forward to resuming several fundraising activities, but starting May 1, it will be hosting an exciting online auction via MaxSold to kick things off.
Local sponsors have come together to outright donate or generously gift an array of great items for bidders. Proceeds will cover operational items like MH telephone, insurance, internet access, further fundraising activity seed funds.
Here is a partial list of some of the donors and the 65+ items coming up for auction:
- Cindy’s Home & Garden – a beautiful canvas art piece ($120 value) plus a $50 gift card
- Estate of Health – Day at the spa gift card
- Howe Fit – 6-month membership ($600 value)
- Kingsville Cycle Works – A bicycle ($800 value)
- Momma Bear’s Bakery – $25 gift certificate
- Red Lantern Coffee Co. – 2 coffee mugs plus 2 bags of their coffee ($40 value)
- Esso Gas Bar – 6 car washes ($60 value)
- New Designs – A beautiful spring wreath ($60 value)
- JW Photography (Jenni Wright) – 11 framed photos ($500 value)
- Kingsville Brewery – $50 gift certificate
- Beach House Grill – $20 gift certificate
Interested bidders can visit the auction site between May 1 and 10 to participate.
Winning bidders can pick up their items from Migration Hall on Friday May 13 from 4 p.m. – 6:45 p.m. with curbside pickup.
Details will be posted on the MaxSold auction site.
Migration Hall would like to thank the public for its support of this fundraising event.
All images courtesy of Migration Hall