The rehabilitation committee composed of 22 citizens called a public meeting April 23, 1945, in the Orange Hall, to decide on a suitable war memorial.
Of the many projects suggested at this meeting, the majority of citizens favoured the building of a hall, which would be known as the Maymont Memorial Hall. Co-Operative Association Limited. shares were sold at $5 each and three lots were bought west of Main Street on Second Avenue, where the hall still stands to this day.
The first officers for the Maymont Memorial Hall were president, Charles Randall; vice-president,George Holler; and secretary-treasurer, Ken DeLon. The directors were Colles Brehon, Thomas Turner, Herbert Johnston, Andrew Melrose, Tom Sawyer and Clarence Reid.
Western Construction Co. was hired to dig the basement, which they did free of charge. A bee was held and local truckers hauled a considerable amount of gravel from a pit south of Fielding. In exchange some truckers received gas and oil for their trucks.
Gilbert and Wilson, Architects, of Saskatoon, were employed. When the plans were received, the directors and 10 ladies met to study and discuss the plans and make what changes they felt should be made. After many trips between the architects and the local committee, a plan for a building 40 ft. by 76 ft., with a full-sized basement, was agreed upon.
A crew of men turned out in June, 1946, with trucks and a tractor to haul more gravel from a pit on the correction line south of Richard. A ramp was built so the trucks could be loaded using a tractor and slip, making it possible to haul a lot of gravel in short order.
A car of lumber had been ordered through the local lumber yard, owned at the time by Walter Antonenko, and iron rods for reinforcing the cement foundation were procured from people who had bought elevator annexes. Nails were procured wherever possible as they were in short supply at that time. A small barn was bought on the west side of town to store supplies, including a carload of cement. The barn was later sold when no longer needed.
Buildings were being dismantled at the North Battleford Airport so a local committee bought doors, windows and a large quantity of 2 foot by 6 foot tongue and groove. While there, they were told by an official that there was a possibility of a H-hut being sold. This H-hut consisted of two wings, 24 feet by 120 feet long, and a connecting section between the two measuring 24 feet by 60 feet long. The committee immediately applied for the building.
Meanwhile, during the next few months, the committee concentrated on raising funds through teas, bake sales, concerts, a white elephant sale and raffles. Various organizations donated money as did several individuals.
Finally word came from the Saskatchewan Reconstruction Corporation in Regina that the committee could purchase the hut. Immediately the committee held a meeting and decided to buy the hut with money loaned by private individuals. This money was later paid back in full or in part while some was left as a donation, as the lenders wished.
Ken DeLong was appointed to take charge of the dismantling of the H-hut, look after the sale of surplus materials and manage the construction of the memorial hall. The dismantling of the H-hut began in August, 1947, with from two to 17 men traveling to the North Battleford Airport every day to help. Each one took their own dinner and tea was made there on a camp stove. The shingles were saved and bunched in shingle press, made locally, and there were very few wasted. Work at the airport stopped at the end of September for the winter and, at that time, one of the 120 foot wings and all but one ply of lumber of the 60 foot section had been dismantled.
Carpenter Corey Buhr, of Langham, Sask. was hired with his son as a helper and, with additional volunteer labour, the forms for the foundation were set up. Then a bee was organized and the cement was poured in two days. When work stopped for the winter Nov. 10, the floor had been poured, the ground floor laid and the walls of the building were up with one ply of lumber on.
The ladies of the community were right there doing their part as well and saw that the men had coffee and lunch every day, which was always greatly appreciated.
By the end of 1947, funds had dwindled considerably, but there was a lot of material for sale.
Dismantling the H-hut began again at the end of April, 1948, with plenty of volunteer labour as always. The roads were really terrible that spring and, since large portions of Highway 5 were under water, the men traveled to the airport via Highway 40. Work continued there until June, then the carpenter returned to Maymont and work began again on the hall with Clarence Reid as manager. Help came teeming in as always, men bringing hammers and saws. Many who could not leave their own jobs hired someone else to take their place.
Ed Buhr allowed the men to use his garage and tools and lent a hand to make bolts which were needed in quantity in the trestle work. Harold Curry, the local electrician, did the wiring of the hall, labour-free, and Tom Sawyer supplied lighting fixtures.
Several ladies from various organizations discussed the plan for the kitchen. By November, 1948, the hall was far enough completed that meetings could be held in it. At this time, three of our local citizens, Louis Karpan, Morris Van Der Haeghen and Tom Sawyer, bought a motion picture machine and sold it to the hall directors at cost, interest-free, to be paid for from profits of shows. This arrangement proved very satisfactory.
Two used stoker furnaces provided heat for several years. A local citizen supplied the paint and a painting bee was organized with both men and women working to paint the interior of the hall. A stage was built and one of the ladies' organizations supplied curtains for it and for the windows. Benches were built for seats for the auditorium and banquet room, and stoves and dishes were donated for the kitchen.
By the end of 1948, after $8,760 had been spent, we had a hall not entirely completed but well enough finished that it could be used. And there was the whole sum of $239.50 in the bank.
A piano was needed and, as usual, a few individuals put up the money and then were paid back as funds became available.
The eavestroughs and one coat of stucco were put on in the fall of 1949, and the next year the stuccoing was finished and a flagpole put up.
One of the ladies' organizations donated four tables and another person paid to have the auditorium floor sanded. Former residents of Maymont living in Manitoba donated an electric clock.
By 1951, there were several committees working for the hall in different ways - the ladies work committee, the entertainment committee and the ladies improvement committee. With the motion pictures and each committee bringing in a little money, it amounted to a lot at the end of the year. The other organizations in the community donated to the hall as well, for which the directors were always most grateful.
During 1952, the directors and committees devoted most of their time and efforts towards furnishing the kitchen and paying off accumulated debts.
Early in 1953, an automatic electric oil furnace with a forced-air fan was installed at a sizeable amount of money but, thanks to an individual loan, the cost was taken care of and the loan paid back as money became available.
From that time on, the directors and hall committee have continued to add improvements and conveniences to make the hall function even better.
In the basement, sanitary toilets were installed in the ladies' rest room and were used for many years until the sewer and water were put in and flush toilets installed.
Since extra kitchen space was needed, seven feet of space was taken off the end of the banquet room to enlarge the kitchen during the winter of 1956-57. A counter was built along a good portion of this wall, shelves were put up to set pies, etc., on and, in time, extra cupboards were built for the dishes. A wooden floor covered with linoleum was laid.
In 1970, when the sewer and water were installed, two double sinks were added. That was indeed a great day with no more need to carry in water which had to be heated in boilers on stoves and then the dirty water carried out again. The plumbing was done by Earl Nutbrown, the local plumber at that time.
New doors and locks were installed, the main doors having been built and hung in 1971; and, in 1976, regulations specified that panic bars were needed on the doors so they were put on.
In 1958, a local storekeeper supplied a good record player, at wholesale price, for teen dances but it did not prove to be what they wanted and years later the record player disappeared from the hall.
By 1963, a new floor was needed in the auditorium so a quantity of used hardwood flooring was purchased from a contractor in Saskatoon. The floor was laid by Haelewich and Sons of North Battleford, along with volunteer help. It was then sanded and painted with iron oil. Ten years later it was again sanded and given another coating of iron oil.
The tar and gravel coating on the flat portion of the roof gave a great deal of trouble for many years. Every time there was a thaw or it rained, the roof would leak and although many methods of patching were tried, none were really successful for very long. So, in 1971, the directors bought a portion of the old curling rink, dismantled it, then used the lumber to build a low pitch roof over the flat portion of the hall roof, covering it with asphalt shingles. Helmer Nesseth was the carpenter, assisted by volunteers.
Now that the roof had been repaired, it was decided to tile the ceiling of the auditorium. Then, in 1973, the stage was redecorated with panel board and, in time, the main walls of the auditorium were repainted.
A large coffee percolator was donated to the hall kitchen, a ladies' group bought a second and, since there was need for even a third, larger percolator, the hall committee purchased a hundred-cup percolator. Some folks say you can't beat the flavour of coffee made in a boiler but the percs sure simplify the making of a large quantity of coffee.
A great deal of catering is done by the various organizations for banquets, suppers, wedding receptions, etc., which requires a lot of table space. In 1947, the men built 14 new tables with folding metal legs to replace the rather cumbersome table tops which would be set up on three trestles each, an energy- and time-consuming task. As the new tables were so nice, it was decided to buy stacking chairs to replace the old benches. Many folks donated the price of one or two chairs or more to help make it possible to buy 110 chairs. In 1978, two groups donated enough money to buy another 100 chairs to fill the need in the banquet room and replace benches in the auditorium.
A used 10-burner propane cookstove was bought and installed in the kitchen in 1976 to replace the two old faithful wood stoves. The gas stove had at one time been used at the Farm Camps and Co-op Schools at North Battleford.
In 1978, the hall was given a real spruce-up when the entire exterior was painted for the first time since it was built. What a wonderful improvement!
With the price of fuel getting so high, the directors, in an attempt to conserve heat, insulated the basement ceiling and some of the walls which had not been insulated previously, and covered them with plasterboard. Since wood was no longer used, the partition was taken out so the wood room could be used for more kitchen space. The fuel tank was moved outside as well. Immediate plans are to insulate and line the furnace room to meet fire regulations.
This is the basic story of Maymont Memorial Hall. No other centre in the community, however important or necessary, can serve as adequately as the hall. The continued support through donations and volunteer labour when needed proves how proud the people are of their hall and that they want to see it continue to operate.
