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hospital idea took form at commerce chamber meeting raffle veto avro shutdown didnt deter promoters i the concept of building i hosplifcjn georgetown first i lined acceptance in late 1054 md early 1955 basically it wh the brainchild of a group rwho have remained interested in the work until its present completion among those in the group were mayor john armstrong john gunn mrs mu nel adams rev a calder dr a macintosh and dr j cham berlain and while no doubt fttt there were many others these were the ones mentioned in news reports of that time however the project remain ed static until the chamber of commerce sponsored a public aneetlng to discuss the idea and mo form a committee this took place and hospital consultant g frlesen gave the results of a survey he had completed the projected cost was 300 000 for a 30 bed hospital the commit tee first formed was headed by john gunn chamber of com mcrce head and chairman of the hospital board since its in ception almost a year passed in dls missions and planning and it was decided to launch the cam jtalgn on victoria day 1956 a very generous boost was recei ved when delrex developments gave a 12000 home to be raffled off this project ended in near disaster when the postal department cracked down on using til mails for lucky draw tickets the bombshell struck on july to 1956 black friday when mayor armstrong and treasurer mrs william b hamilton recei ved word that their mailing privileges were cancelled the 1 offence they had signed the letter accompanying draw l tickets mailed to former resi dent this brought an emerg 1 cnt meeting and mailing pnvi i leges were restored to the in divuhials and hospital associa i tion on the proviso that all 1 ticket money coming by mail would be returned to buyers j the target of 30 000 was thus i shattered although the price of the house warrealized upon i j its subsequent sale all told 56 was a black year j as not only did the foregoing t fiasco take place but county council were given a negative i picture of local hospital needs j in the agnew report a report i that was drawn up to forecast hospital needs in the coun ty however with the projected development in town then reaching its height dr agnew ubsequently reversed his stand and admitted the possibility of and need for a georgetown hos pital in a possible three years or at most four with the enthusiasm thus i engendered estimates were re ceived for a proposed 50 to 60 i bed hospital at a cost of nearly 700 000 in february 1957 a brief was presented to the on tario hospital commission and the association was promised an early decision association members met with the hospital services committee on several a direct appeal to the public for funds however all organ izations in the town were urged to sponsor projects to earn the money that would be inevitably needed for the hospital the tempo of various fund raising projects began to quick en during the year and the first pledge was made officially aa the lions club promised to give 25 000 this in turn gaveij a lift to the entire project but it was still not until january of 1960 that a campaign com mittee headed by thomas dillon of glen williams was set up john ord became vicechairman the estimated amount to be raised was slightly over 250 000 locally with county provincial and wderal grants swelling the amount to the needed 1 000 000 all organizations in town volunteered workers and there was a heartening flood of wor kers from every facet of com lity life over 500 people eventually were involved in the financial campaign the internationally known fund raising specialists brake ly s ltd were hired for the campaign and stan plumer a fund raising specialist set up an office to coordinate and di rect efforts this proved a very happy choice as mr plumer bent his every effort to making the campaign the success that it was the efforts of all the campaign members were so sue cessful that in march of that year tenders wera asked for by the architects the drive received a final send off on its way to success when mr and mrs licata held a dinner for over 200 campaign workers and supporters in knox presbyterian hall from this point the campaign never look ed back and went on to be the most successful fund raising effort th community ever wit nessed the next few weeks passed in a maze of feverish activities as the campaign reached and pas sed the 250 260 and finally 270 thousand marks and slowly then inched on to the 300 000 mark as the opening of the building approaches 4 has rea ched 316000 meanwhile the board hired general contractor the very reputable hamilton firm of robertson and yates and sel ected subcontractors on advice and assistance from the archi tect the sod turning and the planting of the memorial tree on the site took place on sun day june 12th 1960 with the ontario minister of health as guest speaker since that time plans have been made furnishings purch ased and equipment installed actual recent activities are far too well remembered and have received so much publicity that further comment would be repe titious suffice it to say that the financial campaign still is receiving support and that a great deal remains to be done the entire community still is working towards a better hospt tal for georgetown elsewhere in these pages pictures and comment are avail abl which tell the saga of the georgetown and district mem orial hospital very eloquently the writer is indebted to mrs muriel adams for her ex celletuvtwo volume history of the hospital since its beginning every newspaper story picture dates and reports of meetings have been faithfully kept our chief regret is that space lim nation malce it impossible to do justice to her work it is our hope that sometime in the fut ure the two books may be used as the basis of a history of this project les clark j h chamberlain r ght s ch ef of med cal staff he confers here with graham g ihooly bus ness adm n strator miss zena hopwood miss hopwood has many years practical and administrative ex perlence to bring to her position as director of nursing toronto firm was architect to give readers ait idea of the length of time involved in the building of a hospital here is a brief summary about the architectural firm who super vised the structure from blue print to completion the architects govan fergu son lindsay kaminker lang ley and keenleyside were en gaged in march 1958 to prepare plans up to this point the site had not been chosen and after thorough investigation by the architect consultant and board one of five possible locations was selected this is the pres eht site in june of 1958 preparations and drafting of sketches were commenced and the plan was arranged that additions could be tnada to a capacity of 100 pat ients the general contractor rob ertson yates was awarded the contract in may of 1960 and construction began without de and is now completed thi olorttltown hiraltt thursday june 15th itel the architect in charge wag mr j r langley new hospital is one of largest industries a littleknown act about the hospital is that of its petition as one ef the community largest employers aa it will employ over 100 persons this will add immeasurably to the econemt growth of georgetown and of course what the ultimata situation may bo only time can disclose however it is almost certain that the number will grew and indeed the community may find some day in the future as burlington has that it may develop into the larfleit single employer in the community so not only have residents of the community created e ufa- saving and healing institution in the town but they may derlv great satisfaction in knowing they are contributing to the future economic growth and welfare of their hometown hospital campaign chairmans message i wish to take this oppor lunity to congratulate the cit izens and friends of the geor getown and district commum ties on the completion of their new georgetown and district memorial hospital much credit and thanks are due to the few local citizens who by their foresight and un i tiring efforts conceived and sponsored the idea of the local hospital and also to the many organizations canvassers and other workers however the generous support of the indus tries merchants and other bus iness professional people clubs and other organizations residents and friends of the community made the comple tion of this modern institution possible i congratulations citizens of the georgetown and district communities i yours very sincerely thomas a dillon mr dillon a well known tor onto manufacturer makes his home on the tenth line aboe glen williams he was campaign chairman during the fund rais ing drive our best wishes to georgetown and district memorial hospital we are pleased to have had a part in the construction of this handsome building len ariss company limited general contractors excavating equipment rentals asphalt paving 150 surrey st e guelph june 12th 1960 saw the off c al sod turn ng and lee w a pres den mrs john ingl s throws a healthy si ovel full of earlh on the maple t ee commemorat ng tie event k occasions and finally almost a year later approval was given for a 50bed hospital actual approval was received on jan uary 30th 1958 at that time grants of some 568 000 were assured from government grants and other sources it was estimated that locally the hospital would need 1 000 in subscrip var jj bus sites were looked at and a final choice of 17 acres was fin ally obtained the location was on part of the harold cleave farm adjacent to the park pub lic school ki esquesing town hip plant were requested and a ketch was made along with a model of the proposed build ing a ahort time later the ar chitectural firm of govan lindsay ferguson kaminker langley and keenlyside presen ted plans of two different types of hospkal one storey and two atorey mr john langley of the toronto architectural firm sub mitted the sketches directors and the hospital consultants decided on the one storey buil ding with dr campbell of tor onto stressing that there could be such a demand that the projected 60 to 70 bed hospital couid be enlarged to a possible aeveral hundred beds in the fu ture the rest of the year was ta ken up with various money making projects by local organ izations and with extending and improving plans for the build ing and financing locally a recession had set i in with the closing of a major portion of the a v roe plant i and grave concern was felt for ej the future of a fund raising 1 campaign 4 at a meeting be4d on tues 1 feb 24th 1959 the directors re- octaulj decided i withold 4 congratulations georgetown and district memorial hospital sunshine waterloo co steel filing cabinets and secretarial chairs supplied by mcclures 14 main st s downtown georgetown furniture of georgetown tr 72522 we congratulate the progressive community of georgetown and district on the opening of your fine modern hospital patient furniture and other units by metal fabricators 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