Located in the centre of Waterdown, the Memorial Hall has been an important part of village life for seventy years. Officially opened on Wednesday, January 24, 1923, the building had been dedicated the previous Sunday afternoon when a large number of people gathered for the special service and unveiling of a tablet to honour the soldiers who had enlisted from the village and given their lives in the Great War of 1914-1918.1
In 1920, the Waterdown Women’s Institute purchased the site, and with various church groups, undertook the raising of funds to build a community hall. Construction began in 1922, and miraculously the partly built structure was not damaged by the Great Waterdown Fire of that year. Some of the workers actually saw the fire jump from the Barrel Factory to the Roller Rink, raised the alarm and then rushed to see what they could pull from the building.
The project was completed in the late Fall, and “the resulting building is an example of what a small community can achieve when united in a common goal.”2 Built of Flemish bond brick, the hall is a two storey, flat roof structure, rectangular in plan with two small wings for stairways on each side of the Dundas Street facade. Sadly some of the fine architectural features of the building have been lost with time, and in attempts to make maintenance easier.
The greatest changes have occurred on the Dundas Street facade, and so therefore appear to be more noticeable. The large windows in the two front bays were boarded up when the Lions Club took over the hall in 1969. These were originally glazed, eight over eight windows, taking up almost half of each bay and a very important feature of the striking facade. Each window was set in a large arch headed by semi-circular radiating voussoirs with a keystone.
The design of the main doorway is similar to the design of the windows, but on a slightly larger scale. Beneath the doorway arch there was originally a beautiful semi-circular window glazed with twelve panes. This too was unfortunately boarded up when the Lions Club took possession. Above the door is a small low gable with returns, and beneath an inscribed stone reading “Memorial Hall 1914-1918”. Straight concrete steps with solid concrete railings rise to each of the three doors. All the doors are modern, but each has a small platform or stoop.
The east, west and rear facades contain no notable architectural features. Windows, numbering six on the east and west facades were bricked in sometime during the mid 1950s, as were the basement windows. Fire escape doors and staircases have been added along each wall.
The interior of the building has undergone many changes to adapt to the numerous and varied uses to which it has been put during its years of existence. On the second floor, which is only partial, the original projection room from when the hall was used as a cinema still survives. Other rooms on this floor were renovated by the local militia c.1959, and today are used only for storage.
The main floor has a large curved stage, flanked by two sets of squared columns. Above the stage is an ornate entablature similar to that on the outside of the building. At the rear, the areas to either side of the main entrance were once closed off by double doors glazed with ten panes each, but when washrooms were added, they were removed. The doors at the top of the stairs at the main entrance still remain.
The basement is a large open area with two storage rooms towards the rear. One of these, installed by Mickey Rocket was used as a jail at one time for a man who allegedly stole a horse. During the 1940s this area was used as a dormitory for farm help and by the militia who were renovating some of the upper rooms. During the 1950s, it was used as a shooting gallery by the Gun Club until 1964 for Roller Skating sponsored by the Legion.
The building has served as a meeting place for numerous village organizations during its lifetime. In the early years the Women’s Institute met there, as did the Village Council and Court Sessions, until moved to Main Street South at Barton Street.
After a petition signed by a group of ratepayers and a vote of the electorate, Council passed a by-law in May 1948 establishing a Public Library. From 1948 until 1956 this was located at the Memorial Hall under the direction of the librarian, Mrs. Selkirk. Financed by a levy of 50 cents per person collected by Council and some provincial grants, the library opened on Tuesdays 3-5p.m., 7-9p.m. and on Saturdays 10-12 Noon and 7-9p.m.
In the 1960s, Council put the building up for sale because they believed it was not being used enough. In 1969 the Lions Club of Waterdown was allowed to take over the day to day operation of the hall, and under their care it has continued to flourish. Today it is home to local organizations such as the famous Waterdown Village Theatre and site of meetings and specialized events such as the Waterdown Rotary Club’s highly successful Halloween Haunted House.
© The Waterdown-East Flamborough Heritage Society 1993, 2022.
Editor’s NoteVolunteers at the Flamborough Archives have been researching WW I Veterans from Flamborough for over a decade. We now have files on hundreds of men and women who served. The files contain biographical material where we could find it, as well as their service records. The plaques at Memorial Hall are woefully incomplete, and also have a number of errors. The WWI plaque is also not the original one put up in 1923, so if anyone knows its whereabouts, please let the Society or Archivist know.
