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Must restore charm . . but he functional, too Times,AdvOcate, April 8, 1976 Page 23
iT
own hall like Cinderella, awaits someone to wave wand
"You'd be ugly, too, if you
hadn't washed, or cut your hair
for 90 years," says. Nicholas Hill
as he looks at Exeter old town
hall.
"Of course, it's ugly as it now'
stands, but it's our job to focus in
and ,discover‘ the beauty lying
disguised beneath the ugliness."
Mr. Hill believes the town hall
is like Cinderella just waiting for
someone to come along and wave
a magic wand and turn it into a
thing of priceless charm, But who
will wave the wand?
Members of the Exeter
Heritage Foundation hopes it will
be them with the help of the
Ontario Heritage Foundation of
Queens Park, Toronto. They have
jointly commissioned Nicholas
Hill, town and country planner, to
make an extensive and com-
prehensive feasibility study of
the much publicized town hail.
Mr, Hill states that the
Provincial Heritage Foundation
is showing extreme interest in
having the building restored.
The study, which will be
completed by the end of this conth, will be bold and
hallenging, according to Mr.
Hill, complete with drawings and
viable new uses for the structure.
The drawings will be done in
great detail showing the ar-
chitectural value of the building
and sketches of the original
structure as it once was. These
will be obtained from
documentary evidence and from
old photographs.
"We will be looking at alot of
details, the woodwork, the clock,
the tower, the color or paint, etc
and we will discover the ap-
pearance of the original building.
Of course buildings are not static
in their uses so we will be really
looking at the evolution of the
Town Hall,"
Mr, Hill points out that the
location and site of the building
is excellent and says the hall,
somewhat isolated with a fair
amount of land around, could be
part of a rich streetscape of late
19th century commercial
buildings.
Structurally
Sound
He stressed that the report
prepared by Parker and
Associates Engineers in 1.979
indicated overwhelmingly that
the building is in excellent
structural condition. "That is
very significant," he says,
"because it means it does not
require expensive repairs. The
basic structure is very sound."
He says the services, heating,
water, hydro, washrooms must
be gone into thoroughly, "We
know improvements to some of
these servcies are necessary to
make the Town Hall useable."
Must pay
its own way
Mr. Hill admits his first basic
objective is to look
dispassionately at new uses
which must be long term viable
uses for the building, These
MUST NOT be a drain on the
municipality in any way at all
and they must be revenue
producing, "After all," he states,
"we don't want a fossil on our
hands!"
"I will screen every possible
use for which the building can be
used, commercial as well as
cultural. We know, already, we
must improve the police
department and the department
of transport offices which are
already housed there."
He says he will speak to
numerous persons about every
concievable use and he plans to
begin discussions with several
provincial ministries about their
accommodation requirement and
whether the town hall may be
able to supply these. He indicated
that Manpower is already fairly
interested. He believes because
of the Main Street location, the
Town Hall can become a paying
proposition.
Finally, when the study is
completed, the proposal for the
building will be to restore it
exteriorally and internally. The
structure and services will be
improved and then "we will
marry up the proposed new uses,
retaining the heritage quality of
the building, with building
bylaws and financing of the
overall project."
Nicholas Hill specializes in
Heritage Planning and Heritage
Restoration. He has a Master of
Architecture degree from
Toronto University, is a member
of the Canadian Institute of
Planners and an associate
member of Ontario Association of
Architects. His offices are in
Goderich and he focuses his work
on the rural counties of south
western Ontario.
NEW
HOURS
Built in 1887
In 1886 the people of Exeter
voted with a majority of 91
percent to erect the town hall.
The total cost complete with
furnishings and the cost of land
amounted to $8,000.
Construction of the hall gave
another boost to the then thriving
village. People were proud of it
feeling it signified Exeter's
growth and progress.
The Town Hall citizens com-
mittee appointed by council over
a year ago and the newly formed
Exeter Heritage Foundation
believe the building has great
historical value in the community
and that there are many alter-
nate uses for it to assure its
continued life and vitality. They
have agreed to raise the money
needed for its restoration without
asking the taxpayers to share the
burden,
Many money raising projects
are planned. This Saturday, Beta
Sigma Phi Sorority is throwing
their weight behind the project by
holding a sale of books and
Easter eggs.
The following Saturday, the
Heritage Foundation is spon-
soring a GarageSale to which all
those interested are asked to
contribute donations of usable
furniture, dishes, antiques, ap-
pliances, tools, everything except
clothing.
Mon to Thursday
6:30 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Fri. - 6:30 a.m. to 2:00 a.m.
Sat. - 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m.
Sun. - 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
THIS PHOTO, taken about 60 years ago shows 19th century buildings of Exeter's Main Street. Most remain
but the Central Hotel in foreground was razed several years ago. T-A photo.
NEW RED SHINGLES, the color of those used originally on the Town
Hall when it was built in 1887, are being placed on the roof this week.
Above a workman carries a load up the long ladder leading to the
rooftop. T-A photo.
G
AN ARTISTS CONCEPTION (copied from old photograph) shows the Exeter Town Hall as it was in 1887
when it was first erected by the citizens who voted by 91 percent for its construction. Exeter and District
Heritage Foundation plan to restore it to its original form as nearly as possible and make it functional for
community use.
RESTORATION STARTS on the interior of old Town Hall. Above workmen, Richard Keeland and Bev
Genttner remove the joists holding the dropped ceiling to restore the original vaulted ceiling in the upstairs
room while Art Whilsmith, member of the local Heritage Foundation looks on. T-A photo.
OLD TOWN HALL
Saturday, April 17
from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
WANT ARTICLES IN GOOD CONDITION
(No clothing or shoes)
*Donors can donate all proceeds to the Exeter and
District Heritage Foundation or they will receive 50%
of the selling price.
*Articles can be delivered to Town Hall on Thursday or
Friday, April 15 or 16 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m, or
PHONE
235-0765 for PICKUP
235-1995
* Antiques
* Dishes
* Books
PLUS MANY OTHER VALUABLE ITEMS
* Toys
* Sports Equipment
* Hospital Bed
ALL PROFITS WILL GO TOWARD RESTORING
THE TOWN HALL
Pepsi, Gingerale 2602 3 Foil 99$
Plus Tax and Deposit
Fresh Farm Eggs Zro. $2.15
Bob & Shirrs
Restaurant, Take-Out and Gas Bar
PHONE 228.6751
HIGHWAY 4 AT HURON PARK gibEROA13
2% Bag Milk 3QT.
Homo Bag Milk 3 OT.
Coke 26 OZ 3 FOR 99 c
Bread
SPECIAL THIS WEEKEND
Variety Store Every Day
SPECIAL
3 LOAVES $ 11 • 1 5
9 Pieces $3.65
15 Pieces $6.00
21 Pieces $8.25
CHICKEN
BUCKETS
$!.577
9.60
Pitts Tax
And Deposit