HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1978-07-05, Page 15Central east-west section looking north
A study of the existing section
dicates the relative positions of
major building volumes.
in-
the
Part of the renovation study for the Blyth Memorial Hall
ISIZZA
IT 'RACE
DIAL 565-2166
MAIN STREET
BAYFIELD, ONTARIO
NOW OPEN
PIZZAS
SUBS
Best of. Luck to the
Blyth
Summer Festival
RAN DVIEW
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
iqtf! . Jun
HOTEL. •
Fully LitellSeCl.
Across the street from Blyth Memorial Hall
Blyth, Ont. 523-9381
THE BLYTH SUMMER FESTIVAL ISSUE, JULY 5, 1978 — 3
Built in 1920
Memorial Hall hosted travelling shows
The following excerpt is from The
Blyth Centennial issue of July 20,.
1977.
The Blyth Memorial Hall is
building that the people of Blyth
have refused to have taken away
from them and so the building has
stoat since 1920.
Erected as a memorial to
veterans who fought in the First
World-War, the Hall has served
many purposes. 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 a year was the biggest
event.
One troupe that used to
perform there was called the
Jimmy Faz troupe. This man used
to play many different parts all by
himself. He came to the hall
shortly after it was built. That
concert was always held in
connection with the fall fair. Mrs.
Albert Coultes who lives at R.R:1,
Belgrave remembers the times
when the troupe used to come to
myth and she said the troupe was
still corning 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. In the 1920's the stage
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 community
activities were, held in the lower
floor.
In the 1970's plans were put
into action for the revitilization 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.
'building. It was decided to paint
the hall and put it back into use.
Donations 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 to forbid its use Until new
fire escapes Were put in. The
need for Mete Motley was the
problem here, but not to be
outdone the supporters of the
building took the problem to the
town council who agreed to
provide the money for the new
tire 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 at a
cost of $200. That • problem was
solved then, but another arose to
take its place.
A local councillor had noticed a
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
support snow loads, He also said
that the theatre should not be
used until repairs had been made
to 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 he suggested
areas that might cause problems
and recommended that they be
checked' before renovations were
made.
That engineer's report was
received in September but now a
few councillors were having sonic
doubts about the project. Now the
cost was worrying them. One
councillor suggested, -tear the
thing down'' and another thought
that perhaps council shouldn't
put so much money into an .old
building.
A coupon was put in the local
newspaper asking readers their
opinion on whether the Memorial.
Hall should be torn down or left
standing and two groups came to.
its defence.- One group was made
up of citizens 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
W;IS •voting for tearing the hall
down and that came after a
September council meeting when-
council was making its decision.
A September council meeting
was held and the engineer's
report came in recommending
complete removal of the present
roof and its replacing with a
strengthened new roof and truss
system. It recommended minor
strengthening of the floor to the
total stage and auditorium. The
roof cost $50,000 and. Councillors
approved money to fix the,
building. Only $10,000 came from
village coffers 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
sou ve n ir s.
Supporters of the Memorial
Hall have regained their building
and this year, the Blyth Summer
Festival is again putting it to good
use.