Village Squire, 1976-09, Page 13WINGHAM TOWN HALL
The 1890's are known as the Gay 90's but in Western Ontario
they might well have been known as the prosperous 90's.
It was the era after the tough pioneer years were over and the
fruits of the land were plentiful. There was a relatively large and
stable population in the area and there were many industries and
businesses set up to serve that population. A few short years
later, the bloom was to be off as the dozens of little factories were
driven out of business by the competition of big city
manufacturers, but until about the turn of the century, the towns
and villages were probably the most prosperous they were before
or since.
Most of the impressive architecture of our old towns dates from
this period and Wingham's town hall is an example. The building
was erected in 1890 and shows that sort of ornate ugliness that
today seems so refreshing beside the sterile clean lines of modern
architecture.
It's a huge building, built as most town halls were to serve the
police and municipal offices below and the cultural needs of the
community in the upstairs.
There's no neglect in the large auditorium upstairs like there is
in many of the old cultural buildings of the area Where piles of
dust, hanging plaster and dull, stripping paint are the order
elsewhere, this auditorium is nicely decorated and used, if not
frequently, at least regularly.
'It's a huge hall with a sloping floor to allow good viewing of
the ample stage Heavy wooden seats, fixed to the floor provide
seating for 280 persons with plenty of room for added seats ifu
need be
One local booster, Jim Currie, long associated with the hall
through his ties with local amateur productions maintains that
with a little bit of expense, this hall could be the best one in a
50 -mile radius.
Mr Currie was a member of town council in the early 1970's
when the hall was redecorated and renovated. Through that
project it now sports a pleasing blue and black colour scheme
Part of the project too was an improvement of the acoustics in the
building Like many buildings of its time it looks very stately with
its high ceilings but that ceiling tended to have sound bouncing
all over the place before it could reach the audience. Through use
of baffles, ingeniously designed from egg carton separators, a
great improvement in the sound quality was accomplished at a
HAND CRAFTS:
Crocheted Table Cloths.
Runners, Doilies, Knitted Baby
Sweaters Quilts - full size. single.
crib.
FLOWER ARRANGEMENTS FOR ALL
OCCASIONS!
r The Unusual in Antiques
•`t
4�{
and Collectables.
Thr $t utu
TN
,.Antiques art QIr if is
19 Albert Street
Clinton. Ontario
Open Sundays 1 to 5
144
For town or country ...
Whatever's on the agenda
These are only three styles from an
inventory of approximately 12,000 leather
and suede garments in our factory outlet.
PURE VIRGIN WOOL
BLANKETS
All Sizes - Many Colours
SPECIAL FACTORY OUTLET PRICED
according to size
SHEEPSKIN RUGS
TOP QUALITY
NATURAL COLOUR
ONLY
$12. and $14.95
Others trom $4 75
ainfon
ORIGINAL
OLD MILL IN BLYTH
Since 1894
at the Railway Tracks
Tekpbon• 523.9666
111 FALL HOURS:
.11.41:111iCommencing September 7
I�Mandav to I hursday 9 - 6
Friday and Saturday 9 - 9
Sunda. 1 - 6
VILLAGE SQUIRE/SEPTEMBER 1976, 11