The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

Vol. 133 No. 33 PORT PERRY - TUESDAY, JULY 6, 1999 COPY 75¢ ue. scasn 28 Pages THE POWER OF FLOWERS: Michele Aldridge, a staff member at Community Nursing Home in Port Perry, tends to flower beds at the institution's Secret Garden. it will be one of the stops on a fundrais- ing garden tour, planned for July 10. The tour will include stops at beautiful gardens in Brooklin, Manchester, Port Perry and Nestleton as well. It costs $15, which includes refreshments at the end of the tour in Port Perry. If you'd like tickets, you can call Sandy at The Garden Collection at 655-1103. They're also at Everlasting Memories, Wysteria's Ways, and the Blackstock Country Store. Ra ] se. JEFF MITCHELL / PORT PERRY STAR Expansion planned at Town Hall By John B. McClelland Port Perry Star Scugog councillors have agreed in principle to plans to upgrade and expand the cultural heart of the-community, Town Hall 1873. Councillors reacted favourably to the findings of a feasibility study presented last week by Mike Wilson, chair of the Town Hall 1873 building committee, and Michelle Jones, chair of the Town Hall board of direc- tors. That study, conducted over the last six months with the assistance of architect Denny Bryant, came up with three main conclusions: a The 126-year-old building at the corner of Queen and Simcoe Streets in Port Perry is in generally good condition; fs 0 an expansion to meet the needs of the user groups is feasible from a design and construction point of view while maintaining the historical signif- icance and heritage of Town Hall 1873, and a that this expansion will not only meet the needs of the user groups, but could lead to even wider uses. The report calls for major renovations to the inte- rior to make it wheelchair accessible, put in new washrooms, expand the stage area, storage and dressing rooms, and enlarge the seating area by 25 per cent to a maximum of about 225 seats. "The vision we have is possible. We are now ready to take the next step," Mr. Wilson said in asking for approval in principle from the municipality, which owns the building. Town Hall 1873, once the seat of local government and as recently as-1971 a factory where women's foundation garments were produced, was slated for Please turn to page 16 Teachers turn down union backed offer By Rik Davie Special to the Star In a surprise move, Durham's public high school teachers have turmed down a contract offer that was recommended by their own union. District 13 members of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation voted by "a significant number" to turn down the package on wages and working conditions, according to outgoing local pres- ident Pat Jermey. Neither the Durham District School Board nor the OSSTF will discuss what the terms of the pro- Please turn to page 16 a @ on, EL 19 -_