The sign being held aloft by this group of Parrsboro residents says it all. They are attempting to revitalize the Parrsboro Band Hall. (Tom McCoag / Amherst Bureau)
Chronicle Herald, Tuesday March 21, 2006. Pg B1.
Save our band hall
121-year-old Parrsboro landmark in desperate need of repairs
By TOM McCOAG Amherst Reporter -
PARRSBORO — “Save the Hall!”That’s the rallying cry in this Cumberland County town as a residents’ group tries to revitalize the Parrsboro Band Hall.
“The hall has played an integral part in Parrsboro’s history and we feel it should continue to do so,” Save the Hall committee spokesman Bruce Graham said in an interview.
The 121-year-old building started its life as a Presbyterian church. In 1925, when the Presbyterian and Methodist denominations amalgamated, it was taken over by the local school board. For decades it was used as an auditorium, gym and a school. Girls took their domestic science course in the kitchen and boys did manual training in the basement. A Sea Cadet corps also used the building for a period of time.
In the 1960s the Parrsboro Band Association took over the building after the school board declared it surplus following construction of a new school. Since then, it has been the site of many concerts and practice sessions as well as community functions such as dinners.
Today the building has fallen on hard times. It’s in desperate need of a paint job, though reports indicate it is structurally sound.
The band no longer uses the building for rehearsals because it has so few members that it is hard to raise money to cover operating costs.
Fears that one of Parrsboro’s cultural centres would be lost led to creation of the Save the Hall committee earlier this year. It is developing a long-range vision for the building that its members hope will become known as the Parrsboro Cultural Centre, Mr. Graham said.
Ideas include its continued use as a home for the band, a second stage for the Ship’s Company Theatre, a fitness centre and a film society.
“A lot will depend on how much interest there is in saving the building,” Mr. Graham said, adding that any eventual development “will not infringe on the operations of any other hall in town.”
In a bid to gauge community interest in saving the building, the committee has launched a membership campaign at $5 per person. About 200 people are now members, and that has encouraged the committee to repair the roof, steps and water lines and to line up the building’s first client — a local exercise club needing a home.
Once plans for the building are finalized, the committee will hold a public meeting, Mr. Graham said. A date has not been set.
