The Goderich Signal-Star, 1985-07-10, Page 785.�
2
requ
Tawas
reaau
hall hi
appointed a comrhittee to look into Oa t -BY Y 1979, a�a ria , g
tq .it�or,�4; the pini. Ic of the new intentions;
eet'. of
'cin' one;
) pia4 f
rod to 40
, coati rottal8,
p1� ae Well
proposed, site
e ?Rau t4OS �� v n '-e new Hwy 8 at
West!: e), a and was under -
a. new ha ai tbiena C wiis but a,tennisa �a}d'soccer field were
was Y . a• .new h$11 Li•° 1909, atter Y . g .. .
anti delegation) requested a hall, couridil planned o. 1 meetLn was held
ter. Tie.. Salk tree v►as: Forth the ,meeg` was;, .poorly ,attended but one
-fila;' 1, a sallcel4i' from the Fain Club; akar roposa putting the hall beside the
H.K: yeil; Dew mot • McEvocyt Isaac p
Salkeld, frein the 0110*WoinaieS Club; school; as the•,area school needed a larger
Mrs. Japbes'McMillan, froom the Good WOW could make use of the hall. On May
Club. No reaults apppearto have been record- 24;1979, another special meeting was held at
ed by this committee.; the township offices with Louise Marrat and
The topic remained dormant until 1978 Valerie G of Rural Development
when a large amount- of money was left to OutReach, a government program, about
the township by Pearl Woon, wife of the late public apathy for the new hall. They decided
John Woon, in accordance with ins wishes to on a "carefully prepared public meeting"
bequeatit.the money for a township hall. The held on June 6, 1979; the committee
will states: "To transfer the rest and members phoned everyone to ensure an.
residue:• of my estate to • the township of overflow crowd.,At the meeting everyone
Goderich to be used toward the building of a was divided into roups to discuss what they
Township Hall in memory of -my late Hus-
band, JOHN GEORGE WOON,". This will
put the subject of a hall on the front burner
again. ,Ruimours of a new hall began to ex-ir
cite township taxpayers:
It wasn't until August 1978 that the
Deputy -Reeve, Grant Stirling, reported -that
progress at the new athletic field, property
owned by the M.T.C. (Ministry of
Transportation & Communications) and
propertyiowned
lted by allow' foils son tem -
me very
careful planning. He then presented the first
plan of the new proposed Community Center
to be built in Holmesville. This meeting was
held with the Rec. Board.
A special meeting was held with Mr. Al
Sinclair, from the Ministry of Recreation
and Culture. He presented government ap-
proval for a new hall. He confided that Win-
tario and Community Center Grants would
be available. The amount of money left by
the estate of the late Pearl Woon in memory
of her late husband came to $180,000 plus in-
terest. The money had to be used for a
township hall. Mr. Sinclair felt there was no
need for a feasibility study, as the communi-
ty lacked a hall. The Wintario application
would be kept open until itemized costs for
construction were obtained. The Council
and the recreation committee began a study
of neighbouring community centers to see
what could be learned. As a result, the com-
munity had another meeting to discuss
what they would like to see in a new hall. Ar -
Township Tales
1866
The first record of paying a sheep claim.
There were 13 claims that year for a total of
100.50. None of the claims were paid `until
the dog taxes are received'.
1868
James Torrance is paid 3.63 for ammunition
gun caps used in 1866 by the 7th Field Com-
pany Porter Hill, 33rd Battalion.
1899
Council met as per adjournment. All present
but the Reeve, - the cause of him not being
present was by having been severely kicked
by his horse.
1897
Paid the Town of Clinton 35.00 to help gravel
Isaac Street.
{
ut to the :to we ► riled to'produce.a
p hive ..of t
et g o th70to20in
favour of.a"halt .` v�it ?r, o was ,per
sent at the meeting, doesn't remember. a
vote being taken, but the results'' are in the
Rec Committee books for this date. After
reading the newspaper reports of this
meeting, Mr. Sinclair of OutReach changed
his mind and wanted a feasibility study
done. Ron McKay, Holmesville school prin-
cipal, suggested the hall be built on school
property to double as a gym for the
youngsters, Mr. Sinclair decided to design
the questions for a study himself, but the
feasibility study was never carried aut.
The firm of Kyles, Kyles, and Garratt, ar-
chitects, were hired to draw up the plans.
Meetings were held with the school board
and the public school. A meeting was held
with some senior citizens and the local rec
committee to form a senior citizens group.
This group would qualify the hall to recieve
a New Horizon Grant for equipment. A kit-
chen committee was formed and decided
n
t rid es fpr.8e":`,.
�m arned t1
tarso �t � s ep(t ion o untl .
dender'piF tea be obtained. cil
vrtisedfor tenders and the deed' Counfor'the
school property was available, for$1AQ.
Eleven tenders were. received. •ali `over
$500,000; that was $100,000 more bathe
estimated cost. With no response froth Whi.,
tario about the grant,. council` paid K,yle�s,
Kyles and Garratt about $30,00.0 in fees and
then did not renew their contract. Council
began negotiations with several firms and
engaged Muer Construction of Guelph to
build the present building on the township -
owned lot which was previously bought in
1952 for a ball diamond.
To date, with a new kitchen addition in
1983, the hall cost has come to the grand
total of about $370,000 with money still re-
maining in the kitty for new expenditures,
Since the hall opened in 1980, the public'
has responded in a favourable manner —
despite the considerable controversy sur-
rounding its erection.
Memories are best
retained through Photography
b
Goderich Square Circa 1939
For experts in Cameras, Photography and Film Processing...see
Mac CAMPBELL
Royal Bank Block
Goderich ph. 524-7532