A building that has played host to thousands of weddings, parties and social functions as well as acting as headquarters for Cambrian College's fundraising program has been sold to one of the city's largest public accounting firms.
The Cambrian Foundation building, located at 62 Frood Rd., has been sold to Freelandt Caldwell Reilly, a public accounting firm, whose head office is currently located only a few metres away at 17 Frood Rd.
Sale of the building was recently completed. Staff and management from Freelandt Caldwell Reilly will be moving into their new digs effective March 1, 2007.
Shawn Poland, executive director of the Cambrian Foundation, said the organization is "moving home" to the main Barrydowne campus of Cambrian College.
The building, originally built in 1937, is the former Inco Club. For a time, the building was used by the Sudbury Theatre Centre.
The Cambrian Foundation was founded in the early 1980s when Inco donated the building to Cambrian College, said Poland.
"Once we got that building, it provided the impetus for the college to form the Cambrian Foundation, which has been raising money and providing scholarships, awards and bursaries to Cambrian students for almost 25 years," said Poland.
The building has always turned a profit as a social hall, but the college's board of governors decided earlier this year the Cambrian Foundation's main goal to raise funds for scholarships and bursaries might be better served by returning to the main campus, he said.
"Running and operating the rental hall was a good portion of our business and it allowed the Cambrian Foundation's name to be put forward in the community," he said.
"It raised the organization's profile in the downtown core and the building and events that took place there will always remain a proud part of the college's history."
All the money raised from the sale of the building will go toward bursaries and scholarships within the Cambrian Foundation, said Poland.
"It will allow us to move forward and better concentrate on our philanthropic mandate," he said.
Hall bookings took up much of the staff's time. Now they will be able to concentrate more on raising funds in the community, he said.
The Cambrian Foundation administers an awards, bursary and scholarship program for students and raises in the range of $350,000 annually, said Poland.
The hall is booked solid for several more months and current staff will continue their jobs as usual until the sale is completed next spring, said Poland.
Ed Reilly, office managing partner for Freelandt Caldwell Reilly, said his firm has been looking for a bigger office space for some time now and said taking over the Cambrian Foundation building will allow the company to grow.
"We just needed more space," he said. "We're looking to expand our organization and we just needed more elbow room. This building is perfect for us because it's just down the street and we wanted to stay in the downtown core.
"It just suits our needs and it's going to be a very good move for us."
Neither Poland or Reilly would divulge the price paid for the building.
Sudbury is also losing another banquet facillity. The Shrine Villa on The Kingsway has been sold, and will be used as a centre to train transport truck drivers.