Sherbrooke Village Opens New Entranceway

Sherbrooke Village has a new and improved entranceway.

The need for a simplified access to the village was identified a number of years ago and a possible solution outlined in a landscape master plan prepared in 1997 by the operations section of museum services division of the Nova Scotia Museum.

Thanks to the ongoing efforts of the Historic Sherbrooke Village Development Society and other supporters, the new entrance system was unveiled on Sunday, July 20.

The new entrance allows visitors following Main Street in Sherbrooke to make one left and an almost immediate right into a clearly marked entrance roadway, which leads to the parking lot. Previously visitors had to make one left and then three right turns over a one kilometre stretch, to reach the village parking lot.

Development society vice-chair, Robert Jordan Robichaud thanked members of the Historic Sherbrooke Village Development Society, many of whom are Sherbrooke staff members, for their untiring efforts and fundraising initiatives on behalf of the village. The entrance and roadway, which cost about $30,000, was fully financed through ongoing fundraising efforts by the society.

"It took a lot of card games, bake sales, canteen sales and ice cream cones to get us where we are today," said Mr Jordan- Robichaud. "We also have a lot of local businesses and community members to thank as well as special thanks to the staff and council of the Municipality of the District of St. Mary's. Without their support we could not have taken our campaign over the top."

Mr. Jordan-Robichaud thanked the society's former chair, Nola Archibald, for her commitment to the project's completion and for the years she dedicated to the organization. He also thanked former Sherbrooke Village commission member Donnie Fraser for advancing the concept in its early days.

The opening ceremony took place at 2 p.m., with Sherbrooke Village director Craig MacDonald and area councillor Don Dunbar holding the ribbon, which was cut by Ms. Archibald.

The Historic Sherbrooke Village Development Society is a non- partisan, non-profit, charitable, volunteer organization which seeks to enhance and promote the cultural, historical and educational mandate of historic Sherbrooke Village.