Belleville Legion staves off looming prospect of being homeless

Members of Belleville’s Royal Canadian Legion Branch 99 have been spared the unthinkable prospect of being forced out of their 132 Pinnacle Street home since 1971 and into the street.

And, as it turns out, the longstanding veteran’s organization won’t be losing their national charter nor be faced with stowing the Legion’s belongings in a storage locker come the new year given a new facility has been secured.

The Legion was facing a Dec. 31 deadline to vacate its city-owned premises on Pinnacle Street to make way for work under way on the major retrofit of the Memorial Arena in Downtown Belleville.

Branch 99 members beamed Tuesday night as local Legion leaders confirmed a new home has been found for 272 members of the longstanding veterans’ organization in the city’s West Hill neighborhood.

Donning blue sports jackets emblazoned with the RCL crest and the biggest smiles, local Legion leaders told media in a press conference they have secured a new leasehold agreement for new digs in the vacated Belleville and District Shrine Club at 51 Highland Avenue.