History of the Colwood Community Hall
The property that the community hall is located on was donated by Arthur Peat, in 1903, for the use of the colwood residents. In 1909-1910 the building was constructed. In 1910 the Colwood Women’s Institute(CWI) was organized and they took an active interest in the Hall. They organized the building of the kitchen extension and assisted in many ways to improve the building. Around 1946, the Colwood Community Club was organized and for $1, they purchased a military barrack from Fort Rodd Hill, and had moved it to the community hall grounds. This building is known as the Children’s Hall and was used as a meeting hall for the Scouts, Cubs, Girl Guides and Brownies and other organized Children’s groups. In 1958, the Colwood Women’s Institute was asked to become the Trustees of the property and the buildings.
Here for The Community
The Community Hall Committee is operated by a 100% volunteer group of community members that are apart of the different rental groups that utilize the Halls on a regular basis. All funds raised through the rentals of the Halls go back into the maintenance and upkeep of the buildings and property. We are proud of our heritage and work to keep the halls in their original form and available for our local community to utilize. The executive board meets monthly and handles all of the business related to the buildings and the surrounding property.
· We have an Annual General Meeting annually in June inviting all renters and interested community members to attend. Our annual elections for the executive members of CCHC are held at this meeting.
Our Hall Community Now:
Still to this day, the Colwood Women’s institute continue as the Trustees of the property. The Colwood Community Hall Committee also continues to oversee the maintenance and care of the buildings and grounds.They also handle all of the rentals of the Halls excluding the CWI Hall. All of the buildings are still currently rented by the residents of the community to participate in a variety of activities organized by independent local providers.
Colwood Community Hall Committee Executive:
President: Vince Martorino
Vice President and Rental Agent: Kim Coy
Secretary: Linda Martorino
Treasurer: Cindy Eberle
Women’s Institute Representative: Linda Townsend
Member at Large: Connie Ritchie
Member at Large: Wayne Townsend
Member at Large: Gordon Ross
Main Hall Rentals:
Our Main Hall space capacity is 230 persons. It has an unfinished natural wood floor that is specialized for dancing. We host many square dance groups that have been dancing in our halls since it was built in 1910! We also host yoga, and a variety of karate, tai chi, and spiritual groups in this space. There is a serving kitchen only available.
We have group space available on the second and fourth Saturday evenings, or some availability Tuesday and Friday daytime hours.
Children’s Hall Rentals:
Children’s Hall capacity is 45 people maximum. This building originates from Fort Rodd Hill as its first life was as a military barracks building. It was purchased for $1.00 and moved to our property in the 1950’s.
No food prep kitchen is present, only a serve pre made food space available.
This space is best suited for children’s activity groups, yoga, or spiritual group gatherings.
We have group space available on Friday evenings, Saturday mornings and Sunday afternoons.
Upper Fire Hall Rentals:
Upper Fire Hall capacity is 35 people maximum. This building was the original fire Hall in our community. The hoses were hung at the top of the tower after each fire to dry. The ladder and hose hangars are still present. It was completely restored and upgraded for our Childcare centre in 2016.
No food prep kitchen is present, only a serve pre made food space available. This space is only accessible by stairs.
This space is best suited for small children’s activity groups, yoga, or small group meetings.
We have group space available on Monday evenings, Saturday and Sundays.
Booking our Hall Spaces:
Our Colwood Community Hall Community Groups are comprised of a variety of spiritual groups, yoga, karate, Square dancing, Girl Guides, Nature based Children’s Day care Programs, and our own Women’s Institute Group. We are a no smoking and no alcohol property.
We are specifically looking for regular, weekly rental groups that support our community members to be active in life and/or support the needs of our community members. Colwoodhallrentals@gmail.com