Description of Historic Place

The Somme Community Hall is a Municipal Heritage Property situated on two lots in the Hamlet of Somme in the Rural Municipality of Porcupine. The designation applies to large, wood-frame hall constructed in the 1950s.

Heritage Value

The heritage value of the Somme Community Hall lies in its association with the development of Somme’s social and community life. Somme, named after the 1916 World War One battle, is a small community that developed largely as a result of the Canadian National Railway that was built in the region in 1929. Similar to other prairie communities that grew during the inter-war period, Somme had several grain elevators, hotels and various other businesses. As the community grew, so too did the demand for a place to gather. Local volunteers raised enough money and resources to construct the hall in the 1950s. The hall was later relocated to its current site and joined onto Somme’s school, which now serves as the kitchen for the hall during community gatherings.

The heritage value of the hall also lies in its architecture. Built in the Boomtown style, the hall boasts a front façade that projects above the building's roofline and a central entrance flanked by two small, symmetrically placed windows. The projecting façade evokes a sense of prominence and prosperity in the small community.

Source:

Rural Municipality of Porcupine No. 395 Bylaw No. 04-06.

Character-Defining Elements

The heritage value of the Somme Community Hall resides in the following character-defining elements:
-those elements associated with the development of Somme’s social and community life, such as the open interior space, stage and the kitchen space;
-any architectural elements typical of the Boomtown style, such as the projecting façade, centred front entrance and adjacent window placement.