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Show Down Memory Lane BY JOHN J. CKEEDON CIVIC CENTER MEMORIES With the completion of the High School in Copperton with a new gymnasium, the old gym in Bingham Bing-ham was abandoned and for many years stood vacant and unused. During the early I930' the American Am-erican Legion began a program to remodel and renovate the old building build-ing for public use. The members put in endless hours of labor and money in putting the building in condition to again serve the community. facilities were installed and an attractive at-tractive lounge was built. A new hot air heating system was installed and the main problem was licked with a suitable heating plant. The swimming pool was cleaned out and completely renovated and a filter system was installed. A modern kitchen complete with all the appliances and settings for 150 persons were purchased so that banquets could be held for large parties. A teen age section was built on the top floor and was equipped with juke box, pool tables, a small dance floor and a room for work and play. It took a great deal of labor and material to make it suitable for dances and other activities, and finally fi-nally the big day arrived and on April 27, 1935, the Grand Open ing was held with a mammoth boxing and wrestling wres-tling show the I Mr. Creedon The skeptics were surprised when it was opened to the public. For those who said it couldn't be done there it was shining in its new glory.. For this project the Lion's Club won the D. A. Skeen Award for the outstanding project in the state. It was a great community achievement achieve-ment but 1 salute the two men who would not say quits and kept the ball rolling until the job was completed, com-pleted, Earl and Spud. If for no other reason, the happy faces of boys and girls splashing in the swimming pool, was reward enough for the hours of labor and money put into this project. From the first opening of the new Civic Center until its closing a ew weeks ago, it has been the hub of community activity. It served ser-ved as long as it was needed. first attraction. David C. Lyon was Legion Commander at that time and helped guide the Legion in this fine civic project. After this opening weekly boxing box-ing and wrestling cards were held for a time and all the organization dances were held, including the Armistice Day dance and the firemen's fire-men's dances. The 4th of July dances danc-es were held there and for a year or so it was busy most of the time. The Legion had their club meetings meet-ings and other organizations used the hall for their activities. It was still a problem in the winter time to heat the building as the old furnace fur-nace was getting temperamental and required a lot of care and attention. at-tention. I remember one New Year's Eve, we had a dance there and it took a ton of coal and a load of railroad ties to get up enough steam to take the chill off. The flues leaked so bad, it was touch and go whether we had some heat or a flooded basement. With the competition of the R. C. Cemmell Club and their regular dances, it was impossible to make a go of the Civic Center and it soon attain fell into disuse and seemed relegated to the junk heap for keeps. For over ten years it stood abandoned aban-doned and prey to the vandals and sneak thieves. Most of the windows were broken and the equipment was taken away piece by piece. They even took the covering off the race track. The old swimming pool was a catchall for the accumulated accum-ulated junk of years and all in all it was becoming an eyesore to the city. But the end had not come for the old building, for in the 50's the Lion's Club decided to make a project pro-ject of rehabilitating it and once more giving to the community a place for civic activities. Under the leadership of Earl T. James and C. A. Morley, this project pro-ject was carried out in a most commendable com-mendable fashion. These two men worked hard and long to get material ma-terial and labor to carry out the project. With their boundless enthusiasm, en-thusiasm, they were able to get much help from outside sources, including the Utah Copper Company Com-pany and the city and county officials. of-ficials. One more time the old building rang with the sound of hammer and saw and began to gleam with a new coat of paint. New restroom |