HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1990-10-03, Page 26PAGE 26. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 3, 1990.
Keys for the $1.2 million addition to Memorial Hall were turned over to the village in a ceremony
Saturday night in Blyth. Contractor Don Grant (far right) turned over the symbolic brass key to
architect Christopher Borgal who is seen turning it over to Don McCaffrey, building chairman for the
Blyth Centre for the Arts who in turn passed it to Albert Wasson (left) Reeve of Blyth.
Festival passes keys to Blyth council
Hist Society holds banquet
Alan Skeoch, a history teacher
from Toronto will address the
annual dinner meeting of the
Huron County Historical Society on
October 11 at the Brucefield United
Church.
A regular contributor to CBC’s
Radio Noon, Mt. Skeoch takes
great delight delving into stories
about the agricultural and indus
trial heritage of Ontario. Those who
have listened to his historical
sketches on the radio will attest to
his ability to relate them in an
The
Classic
Restaurant
entertaining manner.
His topic at Brucefield will be the
Bamardo Children. Dr. Thomas
Barnardo, born in 1845 in Dublin
was strongly influenced by his
parents. His father, or Jewish birth
joined the Anglican Church and his
mother was an English Quaker. As
a young man, Thomas moved to
London to study to become a
medical missionary. In the east end
of that large city he discovered
young children sleeping in the
streets, half starved and poorly
clothed.
Blyth 523-9623
Keys to the $1.2 million Blyth
Memorial Hall south wing were
turned over to the village of Blyth
Saturday in a ceremony in the new
art gallery in the facility.
In a ceremony a symbolic brass key
was turned over by contractor Dave
Grant to architect Christo
pher Borgal who then passed it to
Blyth Centre for the Arts Building
Chairman Don McCaffrey who
presented it to Reeve Albert Was
son.
Reeve Wasson congratulated the
Blyth Centre for the Arts for what
he called an “elegant and useful
addition’’ to Memorial Hall. The
village felt very proud to join in the
final presentation of the building,
he said.
A project of the size of this
doesn’t get done without its pro
blems, he said, but he praised the
work of Mr. McCaffrey who was
always a pleasure to work with and
never unreasonable. He also prais
ed contractor Dave Grant; Bill
Howson, the Village’s representa
tive on the building committee; and
village clerk-treasurer Helen
Grubb for Keeping communications
lines open.
Alluding to the current disagree
ment between the Centre for the
Arts and the Village Council over
how much of the north wing of
Memorial Hall would be turned
over to council for use as a library,
he said the interests of council and
the Centre were not always the
same and compromises had to be
found.
Festival Artistic Director Kather
ine Kaszas said the completion of
the building was the culmination of
many years of planning that began
in 1984 when the Centre for the
Arts purchased the Sparling gar
age on Dinsley St. East.
The new addition to Memorial
Hall and the expansion of the
“garage’’ to create more shops and
rehearsal space were more than
just buildings, she said. The build
ings allow the Festival to extend its
endeavours year round with places
for theatre classes and with the
permanent art gallery.
For years art in Canada has been
dominated by urban centres, she
said, but this building says that
rural people have the right to
express themselves.
Mr. McCaffrey said Mr. Borgal
had a dream to build this south
wing of Memorial Hall when he
began in 1978 to design the north
wing of the hall. “Chris had the
concepts we wanted. He knew
Blyth the theatre and he knew
Blyth the village and he put them
together. If you do things well,’’ he
said of the design for the building,
“It doesn’t jar you.” Mr. McCaff
rey said Memorial Hall is a sacred
trust to the Centre. “Anything we
do is to make it a living memorial.
Mr. Borgal said this had been a
difficult project delayed at first
because of soil conditions then
hampered at the end because work
crews were trying to finish con
struction while the building was in
use. “When you have a dream it
takes a long time to happen,” he
said. He said in this case he
thought the final product was worth
the wait. “Hopefully Blyth (Festi-.
val) won’t have to worry about
building facilities for years to
come,” the former member of the
Festival board said. “It’s been
wonderful to be part of this
dream.”
■f ONTARIO
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K * OF DIMES
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EAT IN OR TAKE OUT
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FRIDAY&SATURDAY
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Where - Brussels, Morris & Grey Arena
Date - Saturday, December 8, 1990
Time - Social Hour 6 p.m. - Dinner 7 p.m.
Price - $15.00 each Music by Merv Woods
and his orchestra
Includes a Dance and Hot Roast Beef
Dinner,catered by theB. M. & G. Catering
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Everyone is
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Clubs, Organizations,
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ONLY 400 TICKETS AVAILABLE SO BOOK EARLY
Call Karen Hastings887-6983or Dale Newman887-6664
All proceeds for arena and community betterment. Sponsored
by the B. M. & G. Recreation Board.
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