Heritage Hall

Our fourth layer in our story of Pitt Meadows is Government. Government always follows settlement, as without law and order we would be done for. Each elected Reeve/Mayor and council adds yet another layer onto our City.

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The deed is done, on 24 April 1914 by Order in Council this community became a municipality and was free to call itself the District of Pitt Meadows.  What came next?

Well, on Monday 4 May 4 at noon the first meeting of the Municipal Council was held in the Number One School House building at the corner of Harris and Hammond Roads, and, with returning officer W. J. Park present, the reeve and councillors as “elected” were “duly sworn in”. John Blaney, a two-time Maple Ridge reeve, served as Pitt Meadows’ first reeve and councillors were W.R. McMyn, W. Reid, W. Richardson, R.H. Sharpe, and Roland Thompson. When all was done, the meeting adjourned with the date to reconvene as 2 p.m. on May 16. Short, pragmatic, and quick, and then the reeve, councillors, and clerk likely left their unpaid service in the infant municipality and returned to their farms and businesses to carry on with their livelihoods.

Most of these first council members would sit for several years both off and on. John Blaney would take another turn as reeve in 1919 and again for four years between 1926 and 1929 and then again for a portion of 1930. Roland Thompson would serve on the council for part of 1915 and then went off to war and never returned. Clerk W.J. Park became reeve in 1920 and remained in the position for four years. He would return to lead the community through most of the depression and the years of World War II.


History of Heritage Hall (Municipal Hall)

The first Municipal Hall was constructed at the time of incorporation in 1914. In 1930 the structure was rebuilt after the first hall burned down in 1929. The building still stands and is located on the east side of Harris Road at McMyn Road and is now named the Pitt Meadows Heritage Hall.

Pitt Meadows' original Municipal Hall was a single-story structure built shortly after incorporation in 1914 on land purchased from Frank Harris, an early Pitt Meadows settler.  A small recreation hall annex was added to the rear of the building in the early 1920s.  This original Hall was destroyed by a fire that started in its kitchen area On December 17, 1930.  Only the building's vault was left standing, its contents intact.  As well, one office chair survived the fire and is now housed at the Pitt Meadows Museum. 

When this hall burned in December of 1930, immediate efforts were made to replace it under the direction of Reeve Charles Cook.  The structure that occupies the site today is the second municipal/community hall. His efforts aided by an enterprising council resulted in the present hall constructed in 1931, which has been used for badminton, basketball, many dances, parties and receptions, and has even proved a refuge for Miss Pitt Meadows Day festivities in inclement weather.  In 1977 the building underwent significant upgrading.

Up until 1948 the Women's Institute oversaw the community hall but they were replaced that year with a Hall Committee of which the Women's Institute was a part.  Today the Pitt Meadows Parks and Leisure Services department looks after the Hall. Before the arrival of water mains to Pitt Meadows in 1948, the community water pump was located on the hall's front lawn.  Residents without good well water would use the pump to acquire their weekly water.  During the 1930s dances were held in the hall to raise funds to acquire a furnace and other equipment for the building, and, starting in 1938, the Pitt Meadows Athletic Association held dances to raise funds to build and equip Harris Road Athletic Park (located behind the hall) with a playground as well as with a pool and a lacrosse box.

In the early 1970's the municipal hall moved to a location further south on Harris Road and public works functions were later relocated to a site at the foot of Harris Road.  In 2001 many of the community's recreation functions, including the senior's lounge, were relocated to the new family recreation centre located behind the new municipal hall.  However, the old hall, which was officially renamed the "Pitt Meadows Heritage Hall" in 2004, still stands and is heavily booked for community functions.  In 2006 the building was given a spot on the community’s register of heritage buildings.

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Perhaps the greatest show of layers in our community. A building that went from municipal use (for council) to dances to games to events! It stands the test of time as a building that is more multi-purpose than we realize that we only truly realize as we peel back layer after layer of use of our beautiful Heritage Hall. Perhaps it is the greatest testament to our community, as we all came together in this one building for multiple reasons and it holds a special place in our hearts still today!

Discover the other layers of Pitt Meadows.