The Huron Expositor, 1978-07-06, Page 23to the roof. although the lower
portion, of the hall could still- be
used. He promised the full ,report
with recommendations the next
month.
The :engineer made this
promise in the early spring. 'The
report still wasn't in by August
but finally the councillors got him
to a meeting and be _suggested
areas that might cause prpblems
and recommended that they be
checked before renovations were
made.
newspaper asking readers their
opinion on whether the Memorial
Hall should torn down or left
staiiding,and two groups came to
its defehce. One group was made
up Ofcit izens who had wanted the
building renovated 'because they
thought they had a good enter-
tainment facility and wanted. it
put back into use. The second
group felt that as a memorial to
the' war veterans., the' building
should not be 'destroyed.
When. the coupons. from the
newspapers had been returned
they showed that Only one person
wa_s_yoting for Warm .the hall
down War- ta after -t
September council meeting when
council was making its decision.
A September council meeting
'was held and the engineer's
report came in recommending
complete retnova1 of the present
roof and its ,replacing with a
strengthened new 'roof and truss
system. It recommended minor
strengthening of the floor to Pte
total stage and auditorium, The
roof cost $50,000 and Councillors
approved money to fix the
building. Only $10,000 came from
village offers with the rest
coming from grants from senior
governments.
During the winter of 1975-76
further renovations were made by
the Blyth Centre for the Arts
under a Local Initiatives. Project
grant and with support from local
residents, • Blyth council and
various charitable organization.
A silver machine gun which sits
-outside the hall is representative
of when soldiers used to bring
home bootys of such war
souven irs.
Supporters of the Memorial .
Hall have regained their building
and this year, the' Blyth Summer
Festival is again putting it to good
use.
That engineer's report •as
received in _September but low a_
few councillors were having some
doubts about the project. Now the
cost was worrying them. One
councillor-suggested,," ' tear the
thing down" and anothet thought
that perhaps council shouldn't
put so much 'money intii an old
building. •
A coupon was put in the local
Central east-west section looking north
A study of the• existing section 'in-
dicates the relative positions of the
• major building volumes.
Blyth, Ont. 523-9381
Part of the renovation study for the Blyth Memorial Hall
DIAL 565-2166
MAIN STREET
BAYFIELD, ONTARIO
NOW OPEN
PIZZAS SUBS
Best of Luck to the
Blyth
Summer Festival
RANDVIEW
LUNCH
Located at the South end' of Blyth, at the corner of Highway 4
and County Road 25.
WELCOME
to the
BLYTH SUMMER FESTIVAL
from the-
HOTEL
NIUth 311,1111
-
Fully Licensed
Across the street from Blyth Memorial Hall
THE BLYTH SUMMER FESTIVAL ISSUE, JULY 5, 1978
By Of. '-in-.1920
--Memotial Hall hosted travelling.,sho,ws-
•
town council who agreed to
provide the money for the new
fire escapes.
Before the new fire escapes had. -
even been installed however., a
:rumor spread that the wiring in
the building was poor and that it
might cost as much as $2000 to
get it fixed, but an Ontario Hydro
Inspector checked it out . and
found that Only minor :repairs
were necessary, probably. a
cost .of--$2007-That-problem was
solved then, but another arose -to
take its plaee.
A local councillor had noticeda
Sag in the roof 'and recommended
that, it be checked out for safety
purposes before any more money
was spent. An engineer checked
it out and said that, the roof was
below the standards' necessary to • One troupe that used to . support snow loads. He also said
perform there was called the thatthe_theatre_should-not be
Jimmy Faz_troupe.-This-nuitrttsed— _
made to play many different parts all by used until repairs had been
himself.. He came to the . hall
shortly 'after it was built. That
concert was always held in
connection with the fall fair. Mts.
.Albert Coultes who lives at R.11:1;
Belgrave• remembers the times
when the troupe used to come to
Blyth and she said the troupe was
still coming when her oldest boy
was big enough to go to the fair.
The Jimmy Fax troupe stopped
coming to Blyth about 25. or 30
years ago. It was something
everybody looked forward to,
Mrs. Coultes said.
. Quite a few variety . concerts
were held in the upstairs of the
Memorial Hall and at that time a
lot of Irish-Scottish, concerts were
held.
In 1973 the Memorial Hall was
in danger of being torn down and
all because of the theatre
upstairs:1ln the 1920's the
and which was 40 feet, wide and 20
feet deep 'was the most modern
and the largest around and
touring shows. played to full
houses in the auditorium. It had
• comfortable seats and a sloping
floor to provide a good view for
the entire audience and the
acoustics were also good.
But when television came to the
fore, in the 1950's live theatre and
the, Memorial Hall auditorium
itself were forgotten about.
The building fell into a state of
disrepair. The upper floor of the
building was mostly forgotten
about, as dances and coniniunity
activities were held ih the lower
floor. '
In the 1970's plahs were put
into action for the revitiliiation of
the bulding. Helen Gowing, a
local women's wear shop 'owner
and president of the ,Blyth Board
of Trade initiated a meeting with •
the local recreation committee
which had authority over the.
Wilding. It was decided tp pairit
the hall and put it back into use.
. Donation's were needed to buy
the supplies. Volunteers climbed
ladders and scrubbed woodwork
and -by early September the
building was in much better
shape.
A variety night and fashion
show sponsored by the Board of
Trade was held in the building in
1972. Though it was the first
event held there in a long time, it
was not necessarily a good omen.
. The local fire chief had
inspected the building and
declared the fire escapes not up to
standards and said that he would •
have td forbid• its use until new
fire escapes, were _put in. Tl'he
need for more money . was the
problem .here, but not to be
outdone • the supporters of the
building took the problem to the
The following excerpt is from The
Blyth Centennial issue of July 20.
1977.
The Blyth. Memorial Hall is a
building that the people of Blyth
have refused to have taken away
from them and so the building has
stood since .1920.
Erected as a memorial to,
veterans wt-fought in the First
World War. the Hall has served
--manypurposes. When first • built
it was used mostly as a concert .
;hall --for --Vaudeville---shows and
-touring plays. Dances and-other -
activities were held in the base •
ment. A Firemen's Dance held
once .year ..,.was the biggest
event;