Knights of Columbus Hall reopens to all
The KOR’s language symposium is already full, with 200 participants signed up to listen and share about language learning. File photo
After being closed for more than a month due to safety concerns, the Knights of Columbus Hall in town has now reopened.
The closure came on October 1, after what appeared to be an unusual change in the cracks in the concrete floor.
The announcement of the reopening came on November 13, via a Facebook post from Mouchie Goodleaf. In the post, Goodleaf said the building passed structural and flooring inspections.
“The Knights Hall is fully operational after receiving the engineers’ final report,” said Goodleaf.
According to the Knights, the building has been recertified by a structural engineer and is rated above what is needed for the Kahnawake Building Code. The current code calls for buildings to be able to withstand 4.8 kPa.
The structural inspection passed about a month ago, said Goodleaf, but the flooring inspection is what took the most time. Once the flooring passed inspection - and the cracks in the concrete were sealed for aesthetic reasons, as outlined in the engineer’s recommendations - the building was able to resume its operations.
That includes event hosting. One big effect of the closure on the community was that many events in town had to find different venues under short notice. This includes, among others, this week’s Karonhiaráhstha’s Winter Wonderland, FightQuest 56, Kahnawake Shakotiia’takehnhas Community Services’ Trauma Week events, and Inter Species Wrestling’s Big Dawgs show.
It did not take very long for the Knights to resume their event hosting after the announcement was made online.
“I’ve been taking new bookings,” said Goodleaf, who takes care of event hosting at the Knights.
Following the announcement by Goodleaf on Facebook, a public statement was shared by the Knights of Columbus, outlining frustrations with the process on the Knights’ part.
This included what they felt was a lack of communication between the Knights and Public Safety throughout the inspection process.
Goodleaf said that a meeting will take place in the coming weeks between the Knights and Public Safety to address the concerns in the letter, and that he hopes the situation will be resolved soon.
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“We just want to put this all behind us,” said Goodleaf.
