In 2023– 100 years from the time the Community Hall was built, CHF began to discuss and undertake the research toward producing a plaque to donate to the Town which would commemorate the Hall, its history and importance to the village of Caledon East and the Town of Caledon.

In 2024 – CHF was successful in obtaining a grant from the Town to assist with the cost of physically producing the plaque.

The CHF Board worked with the Town’s Heritage Office over the coming months, researching this building’s interesting, but mostly unknown history, and tracking down photos. They tapped many resources – Town records, Caledon Enterprise articles from PAMA, local history books and local historians. Many members of the community who had experienced happy times in this first community hall were very pleased the plaque was happening and were delighted to share their experiences. They expressed such good feelings about their memories, it was difficult to record all the facts about the Hall’s history and to express the true feelings of the people of the community and what it meant to them.

By Fall of that year, the text and photos had been finalized. The Town designer worked his magic on the layout for the plaque. It was accepted by the Board of CHF and the Town Heritage Officer. The CHF Treasurer worked with the company who produced the plaque and the Town, and it was installed on the former site of the Caledon East Community Memorial Hall at 6085 Old Church Road.

l to r: Doug Maskell, Tory Rosa, Marion Plaunt, Errill O’Hara, Derek Paterson, Sally Drummond

A wonderful example of pulling together to successfully complete a heritage project.

On June 2, 2025 – the plaque was unveiled with a celebration and speeches from the Town and CHF. The plaque stands proudly next to the salvaged name stones from the original Hall, bringing the story of the treasured Hall back to life.

This new plaque is part of a growing initiative across the Town of Caledon to celebrate our rich heritage, honouring the buildings, events, and people who shaped our community and touched the lives of residents.

l to r: Doug Maskell, Tony Rosa, Errill O’Hara

The Words on the Plaque:
The Caledon East Community Memorial Hall stood on this site from 1923 to 1981. It was the village’s first purpose-built community hall, erected through public contribution to commemorate those from the Caledon East community who died while serving in World War I.

A Community Hub

Prominent local builders Joseph Proctor and Samuel White oversaw construction of the brick building set on the three acres of land purchased by the Township of Albion. The hall included two levels, with an open, high-ceilinged room and raised stage on the main floor and a kitchen and meeting space in the basement.

The first social function in the new hall was a dance held on January 11, 1924, with the proceeds going to the building fund. Fundraising continued until the space was furnished and the mortgage paid.

Joseph Proctor, who also was a village trustee from 1913 to 1934, functioned as caretaker of the hall without payment for many years.

The hall quickly became the village’s entertainment hub, as dances, dinners, card parties, school concerts, showers, wedding receptions and amateur shows filled the building on a regular basis. An outdoor stage at the back of the hall provided for summer entertainment, as did the athletic field, lacrosse grounds and bowling greens that completed the site. During the late 1920s and ‘30s, an outdoor skating rink was built beside the community hall each winter, flooded by water drawn by an electric pump from nearby Parson’s Creek.

Scouts, Guides, Cubs and Brownies were among the many local groups that met in the hall. In 1957, the Mothers’ Auxiliary of these organizations teamed up with local artist Daphne Lingwood to hold the inaugural CACY (Caledon Arts and Crafts for Youth) fundraiser show there. This show became a well- known annual event, providing high school art scholarships and summer art classes for local youth for several decades.

Rehabilitation and Site Redevelopment

Community use of the hall waned in the early 1960s, and for a while a business occupied the space. In 1967, the local Lions Club took on the refurbishment of the hall as a centennial project for the village. Soon re-opened for community use, it became known as the Lions Hall.
Also in 1967, a decade after Caledon East was incorporated as a village, a new municipal building erected directly east of the hall housed the village’s council chambers, library and fire hall. Behind this building the grounds of the original three-acre site were redeveloped and continued to be used for community sports events. In 1973 new tennis courts were constructed.

A New Community Hall

In 1974, Caledon East became the administrative centre of the newly created Town of Caledon, with a civic campus established just east of the village core. Here, the Caledon Town Hall was opened in 1976, followed by the Caledon East Community Complex in late 1980. The new Complex, which replaced the hall, provided dedicated meeting space for the Caledon East Lions Club and CACY.

In September 1980, the hall cornerstone was removed and the time capsule inside it was opened so that its contents could be incorporated in a time capsule planned for the new Complex. Unfortunately, the paper artifacts had been irreparably damaged by water and could not be saved. Among them was believed to be a list of the soldiers from Caledon East killed in World War I. During eventual demolition of the hall in January 1981, its sign was salvaged and subsequently incorporated in a small stone wall marking the site.

Memorial Park

In November 1981, at the urging of the municipal heritage committee, the Town of Caledon erected a stone cenotaph on the former site of the hall and dedicated the area as a memorial park. Two bronze plaques on the front of the cenotaph, which came from the former Royal Canadian Legion in Caledon East, bore the names of those from the community who lost their lives in World Wars I and II. Thus the names of those for whom the hall was erected were enshrined forever. An inscription on the back of the cenotaph recorded the origin of the plaques and a brief history of the hall. Construction of the cenotaph and park was funded through community donations, with additional contributions from the Orangeville and Tottenham branches of the Legion.
In 2004, the 60th anniversary of D-Day, the cenotaph was moved to the Caledon Town Hall, where Caledon East’s Remembrance Day Services are now held.

Bright Memories

For almost six decades, the Caledon East Community Memorial Hall was integral to the heartbeat of this village – a treasured venue for community gatherings and celebrations both large and small. Many happy memories were created by the generations who passed through its doors and played in its fields.