Pelham Raise the Arches Construction Approved – Fundraising Campaign Continues

The Rotary Club of Fonthill is excited to announce that with the recent approval of the Town of Pelham Council, the construction of the Pelham Arches is set to begin. As many will recall, the Arches blew down several years ago. The Raise the Arches committee then started the process of working to raise the funds needed to replace the temporary arches with permanent arches. The Rotary Club of Fonthill worked collaboratively with the Summerfest Committee to support the Raise the Arches group. Through a gala silent auction event and through the sponsorship of individual arches, over $48,000 was raised. The Summerfest Committee set aside $36,000 and the Rotary Club of Fonthill has put forward $10,000 so far. The building of the arches however stalled, as priorities of Covid took precedence.

With the approach of the 2022 Canada Summer Games whose cycling events will occur in Pelham, the work to raise the arches continued. Recently, Frank Adamson, who has successfully led this endeavour from its inception, presented revised plans to the Town Council who not only voted to approve the build but offered a loan of $30,000 to offset initial costs. The Canada Summer Games Committee has also indicated that they will support some additional purchasing of shade sails should the arches be in place by August.

Unfortunately, since the start of the project the cost of the materials for the arches has significantly increased so while there is excitement that the time has finally come to start construction, the Raise the Arches group is looking to continue to have sponsorships to complete the funding of this project. In all, the group continues to need to raise nearly $60,000 by the end of this calendar year. The Rotary Club of Fonthill will accept community donations at any level and sponsorship levels will be posted on the Rotary Club of Fonthill website.

The Rotary Club of Fonthill is looking forward to the time that we can all gather under the arches for Summerfest, and the Canada Summer Games. We want to meet our friends under the arches before shopping at our Pelham Market or enjoying an evening at the Bandshell.