Yesterday And Today, A Salute to Blyth's 125th Anniversary, 2002-07-31, Page 3I
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Welcome all to
Blyth's 125th Anniversary
Manning's Building
Supplies
THE CITIZEN, YESTERDAY and 'I ( MAY, WEDNESDAY, JULY 31, 2992. PACE 3.
Memorial Hall remains as heart of community
Town monument
The rope for ringing the fire alarm hung down from the Memorial Hall bell tower and was
fastened to a bracket beside the front door. Long-time resident Brock Vodden recalls the
village constable asking him if he wanted to ring the alarm for a fire practice. Grey doors at the
back of the hall led to where the fire equipment was kept. There were two hand-pulled reels
and hoses. (Courtesy Jan Vodden}
Blyth Memorial Hall was built to
be the centre of the community and
after 82 years. and many physical
changes, it still remains at the heart
of Blyth.
Today Memorial Hall is not just a
*Centre for Blyth, but for all of Huron
County with people coming to enjoy
professional theatre in summer ana
Continued from page 2
structure will still be around when
the renovations are completed. The
lobby will be rearranged with two of
the old dressing rooms surviving and
the other two becoming the new
concession booth area.
The ice surface area will be
increased to 80 feet by 190 feet. A
29-foot extension on the south
wall will provide a space fOr
referee's room, skate room,
refrigeration plant and four new
dressing rooms- .
Two new seating areas will
provide a raised and heated area for
wheelchairs in the north-west corner
top-flight talent like Rita McNeil or
Liona Boyd during the fall and
winter season.
In 2002 Memorial Hall has grown
to host the Blyth branch of the
Huron County Library in the
addition to the north, which was
built in 1980 and an art
gallery/meeting room in the addition
of the arena and a "Dog pound" in
the north-east corner.
The old municipal boundaries
have changed with amalgamation
but the co-operative spirit that
produced the earlier • arenas still
seems in place. Blyth. has become
part of North Huron which has
promised over a quarter of a million
dollars to the project.
Morris-Turnherry and Central
"'Ikon which superceded the old
townships have both pledged their
support.
The impetus for the expansion
once again, came from interested
citizens. Early discussions led to a
,opened in 1990 to the south. These
additions allowed professional-
quality facilities for the theatre
auditorium which make it attractive
for both touring acts and the resident
theatre company, The Blyth Festival.
The dreamers of the early decades
of the last century would be thrilled
to see the thousands of people who
co-ordinating committee composed
of Todd MacDonald. Fran Cook and
Steven Sparling.
These three in turn, give credit to
the literally hundreds of other
volunteers who 'have raised money.
aided in the tearing down of the old
structure and generally prived that a
small town can undertake large
projects.
If all goes well the • fall of 2002
will see the new arena completed
and in use. If tradition holds the
people of Blyth and area will he
using their arena about a month
before anyone has a chance to
officially open it."
pass through this building, erc, ic,I
a memorial to the community
soldiers of World War I.
Blyth's lack of a decent hall for
concerts (most concerts were held in
Industrial Hall. where the Masonic
rooms are today), had led to interest
in building a new hall as early at
1910. It was following the Armistice
in 1918, however, that momentum
grew to build a concert hall as
fitting memorial to those who had
fallen during the war.
The whole community, including
the surrounding areas in East
Wawanosh, Hullett and Morris
Twps. got involved. The Women's
Institute purchased the land on
which the building would he erected.
Tire Huron Expositor reported on
June 6, 1919 that a big day had been
held in Blyth including people
taking rides in two airplanes and a
total of $2,000 had been raised,
bringing the fund to $8,000. By July
28, 1920 the cornerstone for the
$20,000 building was laid. The
architect was W. Murray of London
and the builders were local
contractors Cockerline and Floody.
By the next Junc the new building
was ready and the opening,
including the dedication of a
memorial plaque. was held on
Sunday, June 5, followed by three
days of concerts.
There was so much excitement
about the new hall that 1,500
attended the opening, jamming the
auditorium, the basement meeting
room and the lawns around the
building.
The original building housed not
just the 500-seat auditorium upstairs
and the meeting hall downstairs, but
the town firehall - are the rear
underneath the stage area.
If you look closely at old photos,
you can see a rope that hangs down
11.0141 the hell tower to the street
below. Brock Vodden recalls this
was the town fire alarm and anyone
who saw a fire could ring the alarm.
A special clapper activated by that
rope sounded a different peal than
the regular town hell. He remembers
being allowed to ring it once.
Former Blyth resident Pat POwell,
now living in .Stratford, recalled
attending the opening ceremony and
later visits of the Chautauqua circuit
to Blyth. Cantatas such as Queen
Esther and Belshazzar with casts of
60 or more produced and performed
under the direction of Dr. Charles
Toll, a dentist. J.S. Chellew, the local
funeral director, created minstrel
shows.
As the needs of the Tire department
increased, this tiny fire hall became
too small and the department moved
to a new location. In 1946 tenders
were called to erect a new 16 by 20-
foot addition on the south side of the
building where the fire hall had
been. This would become the village
library and new public washrooms.
Inside the original building, a
kitchen was created in the old fire
hall space with the floor lowered to
the same level as the meting room.
Given the kind of excitement the
opening of Memorial Hall had
created, it must have been sad for
older residents to have seen the
proud building's situation by the
1970s. Though it had become the
centre of community life for decades
with many concerts and plays
presented. the television era and
changing times had combined to see
the upstairs auditorium become
largely ignored except for the/annual
Remembrance Day ceremony on
November 11 each year.
But in the summer of 1972 a group
of volunteers, organized by the Blyth
Continued on page 5
New life
Now home to the Blyth Festival summer theatre, Memorial Hall is visited annually by tens of
thousands.
Arena gets Tog Pound'
Rose DeBoer
Congtatutatiatte, to
2evtli'es, 125th artniuettaatty,
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