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Tuesday, December 15, 2015
December 11 Let’s COP-in : P. 4
Music Hall: a museum and venue
Rough road ahead for Ladysmith Craig Spence
Craig Spence
the chronicle
Looking down the road the Town of Ladysmith is seeing not only bumps, but cracks, crumbling shoulders, potholes and significant expenses to get its pavement back in shape, then keep it that way. That was the news Director of Infrastructure Services John Manson delivered to council Dec. 7 in a Pavement Management Plan, developed by his department, working with consultants Tetra Tech EBA, who specialize in evaluating the condition of roads. Manson said it could cost $750,000 per year over a 10 year period to repair or replace deteriorating roads and maintain roads that are still in good shape. Less could be spent, he said, but that would be compounding a problem that has been getting worse since 1998 when Ladysmith’s first Pavement Management Plan was developed. Then just 2 per cent of the town’s roads were categorized in ‘poor,’ ‘very poor’ or ‘serious’ condition. That ratio had crept up to 13 per cent in the April, 2015 assessment. “We’re not putting enough money in since 1998 at least to keep the roads in good shape,” Manson said. Spending less would mean increasing amounts of money dedicated to ‘maintenance’ of roads, with less available for ‘rehabilitation,’ the report says. After 10 years, if the town budgets $250,000 per year for road work, almost half the annual average budget would be spent on maintenance, 48 per cent, with 52 per cent available for repairs; at $500,000 per year, 20 per cent would be spent on maintenance; at $750,000 per year, 11 per cent; and at $800,000 per year, 9 per cent. Repair includes things like milling and resurfacing roads, or even replacing them; maintenance, patch ups like sealing cracks and filling potholes. At $750,000 the average condition of the road network would be “maintained” over the next 10 years, the report says. See Roads, Page 9 Music Hall owner Robin Romalho has big plans for the future.
Beyond Your Expectations
the chronicle
Craig Spence
Music Hall chef and impresario Robin Romalho tells the story of his grandparents operating the first and for some time only Portuguese restaurant in Toronto: Sousas’, in Kensington Market, which they ran for 30 years or more. “Because of that, I never wanted to open a restaurant,” he said. “I always said to myself: ‘You’ve got to be half-crazy to want that kind of pressure.’” So how did he get from there to the point, four months ago, when he opened the Music Hall on Roberts Street in Ladysmith, a restaurant arguably 17 years in the making? Well, first, you have to know that the Music Hall is not just a restaurant. It is a museum, the set for a music show which Romalho is producing and hoping to pitch to a major network, and it’s a venue for youth talent in Ladysmith. And you have to understand that Romalho, who describes himself as ‘overly ambitious’, is not your typical restaurateur. Until 1998, when he moved to Ladysmith he had put in 27 years as a historical set designer and TV show producer. That ties into his passion for anything historical, and his future plans for the Music Hall. “You’re talking to a guy who spent, at that point, 27 years of his life creating areas to make them look heritage, to make them look old – trying to hide a parking meter, or having a sign removed that’s cemented in,” he explained. His first view of Ladysmith, during the shooting of a TV episode of The Wind at my Back, convinced him this was a place he wanted to be, eventually. So on impulse he bought three buildings on Roberts Street, including the future location of The Music Hall. In 1996, when he sold the rights to a TV show called Reigning Cats & Dogs, about people and their best friends, Romalho saw his chance. He sold up his heritage mansion in Toronto and moved here in 1998. See Music Hall, Page 3
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