Halton Hills Council has declared its intent to give the Old Armoury a heritage designation.
The humble, yet storied, building at 1 Park Ave. on the Georgetown Fairgrounds is the home of Globe Productions, a local community theatre run by volunteers. Globe President Mark Llewellyn and his wife Nanci McNeil-Llewellyn – who's the building manager – expressed their gratitude to council for helping preserve the cultural institution.
“We recognize that our foremost responsibility was to save and maintain this unique 157-year-old for the people of Georgetown and Halton Hills,” Mark Llewellyn recently told council. “We are incredibly proud that Globe was able to take the Old Armoury back from the brink of demolition.”
In December 2008, the Llewellyns were alarmed by media reports saying that there were no plans to preserve the Old Armoury. As the Town did not have the resources to do this, it was scheduled for demolition.
Globe joined the chorus of people decrying the state of affairs. However, this presented an opportunity for the company as they were outgrowing their rehearsal space.
In 2010, the theatre group signed a lease agreement with the Town and had its first rehearsal at the Armoury in 2011 for Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat.
Over the course of the Globe's stewardship of the building, they discovered that many of the materials, visible construction techniques and original character was well-preserved. This presented another opportunity: seeking heritage designation.
“It's something that we can boast about. We can add it to our description of the Old Armoury - that it's designated as significant to the community,” said Llewellyn. “We would have access to grants as a designated building to assist us with the re-creation of the original structure.”
The Ontario Heritage Act has strict criteria for helping planners decide if a property is worthy of designation.
A Town staff report on its merits said the building:
- Has direct associations with a theme, event, belief, person, activity, organization, or institution that is significant to a community
- Is a landmark
- Is rare, unique, representative, or early example of a style, type, expression, material, or construction methods.
The Old Armoury is older than the country itself. Originally a drill shed, it was built in response to the Fenian Raids that occurred in 1866. Since then, the Lorne Scot Regiment trained and paraded there.
“I want to reinforce [that] this fabulous non-profit organization has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars that have now become an investment in our community,” Mayor Ann Lawlor said in praising Globe Productions.
