Sometimes it feels like that last million dollars will take forever to pull in… and other times, it seems the dollars are falling from the sky.
The Oxford and Area Community Centre Committee‘s fundraising efforts are on fire in this last year before the building’s planned completion. On Monday, representatives of CIBC were in town to symbolically pass on a cheque for $100-thousand to push the fundraising thermometer a bit higher toward the total project cost of $24.5-million.
That hundred grand also gives the bank naming rights for a part of the facility, where the Oxford Branch of the Cumberland Public Library will also be known as the CIBC Community Learning Centre.
The financial institution sent several representatives for the photo-op and a followup tour of the building under construction. Present for CIBC were:
- Mike Bagnall, Vice-President & Region Head, Atlantic Canada (CIBC Commercial Banking)
- Susan Diab, Market Vice-President, Atlantic Canada
- Stephen Maltby, Managing Director / Region Head, Atlantic Canada (CIBC Private Wealth)
- Matthew Wood, Senior Private Banking Advisor (CIBC Private Wealth)
- Chelsea MacIntosh, Community General Manager
[L-R: Troy Miller, Matthew Bragg, Denise Corey (Cumberland Library), Leta MacDiarmid, Matthew Wood, Paul Jones, Stephen Maltby, Mike Bagnall, Chelsea MacIntosh, David Hoffman, Susan Diab, Jordan Burkhardt, Chrystal McNutt, Connie Pettigrew]
In remarks ahead of the tour, David Hoffman, President of the Oxford Community Centre Association, noted that CIBC has a long history of doing business with the Bragg Group of Companies, some 33 years of providing financial services to the Oxford-based business. Hoffman said, “It’s just a great relationship that we really are very, very appreciative of.”
On behalf of the CIBC, Mike Bagnall said he’s known Hoffman for over 25 years, and that when he and Matthew Bragg called to tell him about “this exciting new project, they’re very persuasive men, so it was pretty easy to get behind.” Bagnall said “I think it’s a good fit for our core values at CIBC, which is supporting the communities where we live and do business, and for us to be able to step up.”
Bagnall congratulated the OCC Committee on making the Community Centre a reality, saying “it’s nice to move the needle on the thermometer.”
The new Community Centre project to date has received funding from the Government of Canada ($7-million), the Province of Nova Scotia ($7-million), The River Philip Association ($7-million), the Municipality of Cumberland County ($350-thousand), the Town of Oxford ($350,000 which includes the donation of land and the waiving of development fees and property taxes), the CIBC ($100-thousand), the National Bank of Canada ($25-thousand), as well as many other smaller donations and funds raised through community activities by the Oxford & Area Community Centre Committee.
Although far from finished, a tour was arranged for those present, with a representative of Bird Construction providing commentary and answering questions as the hard hat-wearing visitors were led through the facility.
Present for her second visit in as many weeks, Cumberland Public Libraries Director Denise Corey already has the new branch library organized in her mind, indicating where the branch assistant’s desk would be placed, as well as the shelving and reading areas. The Oxford branch will be accessible from the main foyer of the Community Centre, while the fitness centre, on the eastern corner of the building, will have a dedicated entrance for 24/7 access by members.
While the exterior is gaining its skin at the hands of masons adding white brick, inside the massive building, workers are placing the inner structure and walls for the YMCA child care facility (west corner), the café area, and enclosing the gymnasium. The “net-zero” building, which is constructed to a high standard for energy efficiency, also features two kitchens, one dedicated for the child care space, and another to serve the needs of those organizations that will make use of the rest of the centre.
Our guide mentions details of the construction as the visitors moved through the building, noting the “two-hour fire-rated walls” and a building-wide sprinkler system for safety. While two “machine rooms” (one on the ground floor behind the fitness centre, and another on the second level above the multi-purpose rooms) take up a fair amount of space, there appears to be no wasted square footage, with storage rooms spread throughout, as well as a handful of offices and smaller rooms that will be available to rent by community organizations.
While the exterior is quickly taking shape, a great deal remains to be done before the building opens in 2026.
Previous coverage of the Oxford & Area Community Centre:
2025 May 1 — “Every little bit helps…“
2025 April 1 — “Your Community Centre“
2024 October 9 — “This is huge for Oxford, it’s huge for Cumberland County”
