Legion members say farewell to Port Dalhousie hall
It was a bitter-sweet night for many people at the Good Bye Blow Out Bash at the Port Dalhousie legion hall Saturday night.
Organizers expected 500 or more people who began to crowd the entryway shortly after 3:30 p.m..
The main building is more than a hundred years old and started out as a warehouse for the canal system, according to current Royal Canadian Legion Branch 350 president John Garvie.
“They stored sails and etcetera,” he said. “And over time it turned into a storage for the sculls for the Henley.
“This was part of a pistol range,” he continued, as he pointed to a far wall. “It’s been a multifaceted thing over its lifetime.
“The legion first moved into the corner and then eventually took over the whole building.
“I’ve been a member for 38 years; they’ve been here for longer than that.”
The two-storey legion building will be replaced by a mixed-use building to include 51 condo units and roughly 450 square metres of ground-floor space for the legion.
That will leave the legion with about half the space of what it has now.
“A lot of people are feeling it right now, the Port Dalhousie community. They’re realizing this is a massive change,” said Garvie.
“All the old guard, the guys and ladies with the poppies on their pictures, a lot of them are what kept this place glued together for many years. My dad was a life member here before I came along.”
Kelly George, a co-ordinator of Saturday’s event, remembers her first baseball signup being in the old structure.
“There’d be seagulls hanging on the rafters inside,” she said as she recalled the past, but while looking toward the future.
“You can see the building structurally needs a lot of help.
“The old coolers will be gone, and it’s one of the aspects (new equipment) with the new building that will help the Branch 350 to thrive with better theme nights and bookings. A rebirth essentially.”
Garvie said the building and all the utilities will be shut down
Jan. 5 with just the president’s new year levee taking place in 2019.
Many of the photos that adorn the walls have been taken down and will be scanned for display in the new hall.
“You could say we’re getting the first floor,” said Garvie. “We’ll have a view of the water and the surroundings, quite a bit of glass compared to the plaster.
“And we’re going to have a patio for the first time.”
Said Garvie and George almost in unison: “Upward and onward.”