Rodman Hall: From mansion to arts centre
Our old photo this week shows us the rear of Rodman Hall as it looked probably in the 1920s or 1930s. Our focus today is on the additions that allowed that grand old heritage building to become the arts centre that it is today.
The story of the mansion is well known. It was the home of Thomas Rodman Merritt (1824-1906), the youngest and arguably most accomplished son of canal builder William Hamilton Merritt. At the time he built this mansion – from about 1853 to 1863 – young Mr. Merritt owned a couple of flour mills, ran a shipping line, was vice-president of the Niagara District Bank, and served on the St. Catharines town council. He later became a Member of Parliament, 1868 to 1874.
T. R. Merritt lived in Rodman Hall until his death in 1906, when the property was inherited by his nephew, physician, surgeon and soldier William Hamilton Merritt, a grandson of the Canal builder.
Upon his death in 1924 the property passed to that gentleman’s son, another Thomas Rodman Merritt. The new owner lived in part of the building and rented out the second and third floors as apartments. For a time in the 1920s a girls school was also housed there.
By the late 1950s Mr. Merritt was looking to dispose of the property. He resisted one proposal that he sell it so that it could be demolished and replaced with a housing development. But he enthusiastically accepted a proposal from the fledgling St. Catharines and District Arts Council that he sell to them so they could turn the building into an art centre for the city. The Arts Council bought the property in April 1960, and on September 17 of that same year opened, the building to the public as the Rodman Hall Arts Centre.
To realize its promise as an arts centre there had to be changes made to the old building. In 196061 a new wing was added to the east side of the mansion, providing space that could be used either for musical/theatrical rehearsal space or for additional gallery display space.
Today’s “yesterday and today” photos show us the second of the major additions to the building, on the southeast corner of the old mansion. Designed by the architectural firm of Macdonald and Zuberec and opened in 1975, the new addition stands where that stand of trees stood on the right side of our old photo. It offered space for two large new galleries, a work shop, storage space for paintings, and a shipping and receiving area. That, along with upgrades to the heating, air conditioning, and fire protection of the entire complex, allowed the facility to be classed as one of the country’s National Exhibition Centres.
Dennis Gannon is a member of the Historical Society of St. Catharines. He can be reached at gannond2002@yahoo.com