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Be a Hometown Tourist APRIL APRIL 17-- COMMUNITY CLEAN UP DAY. APRIL 22--HALTON HILLS 22 MINUTE MAKE OVER APRIL 24-- HALTON HILLS EARTH DAY CELEBRATION; GAUDEAMUS CHOIRS OF HALTON HILLS CONCERT MAY MAY 14-16-- KIDS FUN FAIR & BANG-O-RAMA MAY 28-- KIWANIS LOBSTERFEST. MAY 29--COMMUNITY UNITY DAY PICNIC JUNE JUNE 1--CELEBRATE THE ARTS FESTIVAL, JUNE 1-19, ACTON JUNE 5-- CELEBRATE HALTON HILLS' TRAILS, ACTON TRUNK SALE OPENS JUNE 12-- GEORGETOWN FARMERS' MARKET OPENS; GEORGETOWN HIGHLAND GAMES JUNE 19-20 -- BIG DADDY FESTIVAL, FESTIVAL ON MAIN, TASTE OF ACTON, CLASSICS AGAINST CANCER For details on these events or for a complimentary Halton Hills Visitors Guide call 905-877-7119 or visit www.haltonhillschamber.on.ca Ron Birrell displays one of the newel posts that will grace the staircase leading up to the auditorium. Photo by Ted Brown coffers to fund the committee's goals. Upstairs, the hall saw many varied events, includHowever, at a meeting, committee member Ted Tyler ing dances, concerts, minstrel shows and graduations. had a suggestion. Acton's first movies were shown in the hall, and rallies, Tyler proposed raising funds with a lottery, and the both political and temperance, as well as receptions for Actario Lottery was formed (playing off the name of the veterans were all held upstairs at the old Town Hall. then provincial `Wintario' lottery.) But by the 1960s, the great hall of the Town Hall had The Actario lottery ran every Saturday morning for two been pretty much relegated to a storage facility, and the years, and as a result, more than $30,000 were raised, downstairs was the home of the local Ontario Provincial and the project was underway. Police office, in the years before regional government Actario was to be the first of many fundraising projcreated Halton Regional Police. ects, and the group also applied for several provincial On the Bower Avenue side of the building, Acton Fire and federal grants, to further the restoration. Department maintained their apparatus bays to store The restoration of the building was taken over by Heritheir fire trucks and to hold their weekly practices. tage Acton, a registered charity formed in January, 1983, The Town Hall was becoming an eyesore, and by the and the building was deeded to Heritage Acton by the mid-1970s, Town of Halton Hills staff questioned the Town of Halton Hills Council. safety of the building. The group was now in position to move forward. On April 25, 1977, Halton Hills Works Committee recThe grants rolled in over the years, as the committee ommended that Acton Town Hall be torn down, and the received a $133,720 federal work grant in 1982, and an area to be used to construct a parking lot for Acton Fire Ontario Heritage FoundaDepartment. tion grant for $60,000 in Halton Hills Council 1984. agreed, but only five days "The first project was passed and more then 80 to stabilize the exterior of people came forward to the building," said present challenge the decision, and committee chairman Ron before long, a petition with Birrell. "The building was more than 2,000 names was not sound-- in fact it was presented at council. in pretty bad shape, and Halton Hills Council quickly the outside walls needed abandoned the demolition of lots of work. Those first the Town Hall. monies raised were entireSoon after, the Acton Town ly devoted to stabilizing the Hall Restoration Committee building, mostly by installwas formed, with George Elliott acting as chairman. The Perched high on a scaffolding, Town Hall interior ing steel beams under the committee was now in place, designer Gail Kerr takes her turn with a paint exterior walls. It was quite but they had no money. brush, working on the top of the arch over the an undertaking "But after successfully Bake sales and other small stage. fundraisers did little to fill the Photo by Ted Brown stabilizing the building, Tourism Information Centers are located at: Halton Hills Chamber of Commerce, 328 Guelph Street, Georgetown or MacMillan's Frozen Foods, Highway 7, west of Acton 354 Guelph St., Georgetown 905-873-1655 supporting local businesses, charities and events for over 20 years SPRING · 2010 23 S I D E R O A D S H A LT O N H I L L S Georgetown 33 Mountainview Rd. N. (inside Georgetown Chevrolet) 905 877-2540