SUGDEN - A landmark in the small rural community of Sugden for more than six decades has been destroyed by fire.
According to Ashmont Fire Chief James Preston, crews responded to a structure fire at Sugden Hall, located at 62304 Range Road 112, at 2:16 p.m. on Nov. 7. Sugden is located about 30 km north of Ashmont.
"Ashmont Fire responded and requested Mallaig Fire respond as well with the fire threatening to spread to surrounding bush," said Preston.
The community hall was nearly completely burnt when fire crews arrived on scene and firefighters worked to extinguish the fire and all hot spots.
"No cause has been determined, but the hall was unoccupied at the time of the fire and hadn’t been in use for some time," said Preston.
History of the hall
Victoria Slowski, past secretary for the Sugden Hall, stated that over the years, the hall was important to the community as a gathering place, one where many memories were made. The building was the site of numerous social events such as dine and dances, meetings, family reunions, crib matches, parties, and even a few weddings.
“Different events were held in that hall,” Slowski told Lakeland This Week. “We used to have a lot of crib games there.”
As for the history of the long-running Sugden community centre, as Slowski explains, it was originally a school that had been relocated from the Side View area roughly six miles south of Sugden around 1959.
“It was moved to that site and turned into a hall,” she explained.
Over the years, several additions were built onto the former schoolhouse. According to Slowski, this included a kitchen area as well as additional room for dances.
Slowski believes the Sugden Hall had at one time had been registered as a church because there is a graveyard close by and the building was used for services, including funerals.
In more recent years, and especially since the COVID-19 pandemic, the doors to Sugden Hall were frequently closed as the building was not in operation much of the time. A lot of the older people who had been taking part in regular crib games at the hall have passed away, which meant considerably less support for the hall.
Slowski figures the last time the building was used was for the annual general meeting that took place over a year-and-a-half ago.
In the week since the fire, Slowski said she has received phone calls from people in the area who stated that they have a lot of great memories from attending events at the community hall.
As fire officials continue their investigation into what could have caused the fire, Slowski says the probability of a new building going up on the site to replace the old Sugden Hall is not great.
She explained that there is no longer the support in the area or enough younger members who are willing to spend the time and effort needed to keep such an initiative afloat.
“It takes a lot of volunteers to keep a hall going and I don’t think it will be rebuilt,” she said.
*With files from Janice Huser