About Our North Shuswap Community Hall & Association
History of Our Hall
Pioneers had great foresight! They set aside land as a town centre for the school, the cemetery, the church, a park and the hall in 1914. The hall was completed in 1934 with volunteers. They supplied the logs, the lumber, the shakes and the labour .
Dances, Christmas concerts, weddings, memorial services, club meetings and community meetings made the hall a lively gathering place for the whole community, just as it is today. In fact, the hall was famous for having the largest dance floor in British Columbia. Since electricity didn’t come to the North Shuswap until 1957, the first Christmas trees were lit using a battery. In 1947, a ‘lighting plant’ was installed so that lanterns no longer had to be used for evening gatherings. In those days, the Community Hall was called the Agricultural Hall.
The original shake roof was replaced with an aluminum roof and volunteers added the club room onto the back of the hall between 1952 and 1954. The Community Association was incorporated as a Society in 1958.
Until 1964, outdoor biffies were the only toilets – summer and winter! That year, indoor toilets were added to the upper section. On a roll, volunteers continued to improve the hall by adding the main kitchen in 1967 as a Centennial Project.
During the years since then, the wheelchair ramps, the handicap bathroom beside the front door and the porch around the back were added. The roof was replaced over the clubroom, and the improvements continue today! Since 2005, volunteers have renovated the bathrooms, added a handicap toilet beside the clubroom, installed a new water system, rebuilt the clubroom kitchen, replace the clubroom floor, renovated the main kitchen, put new tile on the floors, replaced the roof, put in a back-up generator built a new storage room above the stage, and installed a new hall heating/cooking system. A shelter has been built beside the hall. Improvements to the grounds and Pioneer Park have also been made with the addition of new concrete picnic tables, benches, bear-proof garbage cans, and two new concrete vault toilets.
Our hall was 75 years old in 2009 and a grand celebration was held on the long weekend in August. Over these 75 years, legions of North Shuswap citizens have volunteered their time to the NSCA (North Shuswap Community Association) to keep our hall running smoothly. Many of the present executive remain active but need your new ideas and energy to ensure that our beautiful old hall can continue serving as the gathering place for our community. In 2020 the floor has been replaced with edged fir by volunteers. What a beautiful dance floor!
In 2023 our heritage hall is 89 years old.
Community Association memberships are only $10 per person or $20 per family and can be paid by mailing a cheque to NSCA, 5456 Squilax Anglemont Road, Celista, BC V0E 1M6.
Thank you for your support.