Less than a year after the Lunenburg Opera House changed hands, the mortgage on the building has been paid in full.

Farley Blackman sold the building to the Lunenburg Folk Harbour Society for just over $733,000 last April.

The volunteer society still had $300,000 left to pay when Louis Robitaille, the society's program chair and treasurer, got a call in December that someone was interested in giving a substantial donation.

Robitaille met on Dec. 23 with Guenther and Susan Reibling, who offered to pay the remaining $300,000.

The couple is originally from Germany. Robitaille said the Reiblings split their time between the U.S. and Lunenburg.

"[I] was very happy, very pleased and shocked that somebody would be that willing to give us such a large donation," Robitaille said. "It takes the burden off."

Financial toll

The society's president said in April the group was able to make the purchase thanks to a grant from the U.S.-based Fordi Family Foundation, which covered 60 per cent of the asking price.

But the financial toll was a big one, Robitaille said, and the society had to assume the first mortgage in its 36-year history.

In a letter to the Folk Harbour Society, the Reiblings said they were pleased to see the society acquire the building "in order to expand their programming and provide entertainment in a beautiful facility." They went on to highlight the "economic stimulus" provided by the group's work.

The Reiblings have been supporters for years, Robitaille said, and are billets for artists at the Lunenburg Folk Harbour Festival in the summer.

Upcoming renovations

Robitaille said fundraising can now go toward programming and renovations, including restoring the top floor, setting up better heating for winter events and upgrading a space used for catering.

"Now we're thinking more that we can get at those sorts of things in the next three years, as opposed to the next five to 10 years," he said.

But Robitaille is pleased the building is being used more regularly since the society bought it.

"We use it, other volunteer not-for-profits in town have used it, other for-profit people have been using it. So it's getting good use now."

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