Carley Community Hall
— by Kelly Skinner-Meyer
Well, that was certainly a winter, one for the books! I’m glad to say “Hello Spring”!
The Carley Community Hall wintered the weather well with its new steel roof and new furnace. Thank you to Oro-Medonte Township for keeping our parking lot and walkway clear of snow. I have to give a huge thank you to all the roads and operations staff of Oro-Medonte for an excellent job this winter keeping our roads clear and safe to drive. The plow drivers never seemed to get a break before the next storm arrived, so thank you!
The Hall has been busy with rentals and more coming. It’s so exciting to see the Hall so busy with new people arriving to celebrate anniversaries, baby showers, weddings and birthdays. If you have a celebration and need a place to gather, contact us at carleycommunityhall@gmail.com.
We have more exciting news: the Carley Community Hall has just been designated as a heritage building in Oro-Medonte! Our building has been found to be historically significant in the Township and recognized by the Province as having met all the criteria to be found to be designated as such. In the report presented by the Oro-Medonte Heritage Committee to Council it states: “Carley Hall meets the historical and associative value criteria. The property has historical value or associative value because it has direct associations with a theme, event, belief, person, activity, organization or institution that is significant to the community. The Carley Community Hall was originally constructed in 1912 by local builders, the McDuff Bros using their state-of-the-art cement machine, as a one-room schoolhouse. The doors opened in 1913 and began its history as a focal point of the community. The construction tells the story of the high degree of craftsmanship of local builders. This is exemplified through the following original components of the building:
- The exterior Brickwork (rusticated concrete block)
- The Bell tower (Belfry)
- The Chalkboard
- The “Tin Ceiling”
This designation does not change the daily uses of the Hall but preserves and designates its importance to Oro-Medonte Township. As the Chairperson of the Hall, I would like to thank the Heritage Committee for all of their efforts and time to help make this happen. I thank the board and volunteers at the Carley Community Hall for all of their dedicated hours and service to maintain this building as a viable community building.
The Trillium grant we received in 2011 was driven by the volunteers and the partnership with the Eady-Grenard Women’s Institute enabled us to receive the funds to protect the Hall’s foundation and building. This has been a community coming together to protect our history and it now has been recognized.
Thank you to the staff at Oro-Medonte for all your help, the Community and Recreation department for always being there for help, and thank you to Mayor Greenlaw and Council for passing the by-law and recognizing Carley Community Hall as a heritage building. In the words of Councillor Hutcheson, “It’s a gem” something I have said for over twenty years.
Enjoy the spring.