A Ukrainian dance group in Grande Prairie is asking for help after their studio was damaged by a water leak. While the Troyanda Society of Ukrainian Culture and Heritage had insurance, it is still short $9,000 for repairs. Co-president Jennifer Taylor says that because of the leak their studio on 108 Street is unusable.
“During the big melt that we had over Christmas holidays our studio suffered a significant water leak. Unfortunately, our dance studio is unusable right now. The leak was repaired but the studio walls and floor and roof ended up with a lot of water damage; our specialty dance floor was destroyed.”
Troyanda has run in Grande Prairie for over 40 years and has been in its current studio for around 13 years. Taylor says they are one of the only Ukrainian cultural studios that own their own building.
Clean up crews from WINMAR Property Restoration are currently working on the building. Taylor says if everything goes well she’s hoping they can get back in in the next month or two.
“We’ve been lucky that WINMAR has been out there and got in there right away so less damage was done than what could have been if it was left longer in the state it was in. In the next month or two, we can hopefully get back into our studio.”
The groups more than 100 dancers are currently working out of the gym at the Dormition of the Most Holy Mother of God Parish Ukrainian Church on 114 Avenue. Anyone interested in donating can contact the group via email at [email protected].