Description of Historic Place

Ocean Park Community Hall is located in the Ocean Park neighbourhood of Surrey, British Columbia. It is a one-storey wood-frame community hall with a front-gabled roof and wooden drop siding. The Hall is characterized by its original multi-paned, double-hung wooden sash windows, its rectangular plan and its surrounding mature landscaping.

Heritage Value

The purpose-built Ocean Park Community Hall is significant for its continuous association with the development of the Ocean Park neighbourhood in Surrey. Located in the southern portion of the City of Surrey, the Ocean Park neighbourhood was established in 1905 when W. Pasco Goard, real estate advertiser and former minister of the Methodist Church, acquired and parcelled a large area of land adjacent to the waterfront. By 1909 the Great Northern Railway (GNR) had arrived in the area, and the residents of Ocean Park constructed their own local railway stop in 1912. With the railway came more settlers, and as more families arrived, the need for infrastructure and amenities increased. In 1916, the first Ocean Park School was built on land donated by early settler Ben Stevenson, and by 1922 the first Ocean Park Post Office had been constructed. As the community expanded, the need for community gathering, performance and meeting space became apparent. This need was met in 1924 when prominent local citizen and one of the area's majority landowners, John Horner, donated the land for the construction of a community hall. On March 3, 1926, the Ocean Park Community Hall was opened with a banquet, concert and dance. The Hall has evolved along with the growing community; over the years it has been expanded at the front, back, and side. Interior additions, such as the construction of a raised stage, have made the space more versatile and these alterations are indicative of the patterns of growth and development in the Ocean Park neighbourhood over the many decades since the Hall was constructed. The Ocean Park Community Hall continues to be an important and well-used landmark in the Ocean Park neighbourhood.

The Ocean Park Community Hall is further valued for its modest vernacular Craftsman style architecture. The Craftsman style was typified by rational space planning, the use of natural materials and a mix of traditional design elements inspired by the Arts and Crafts movement, such as sloping rooflines and triangular brackets. The Craftsman style was popularized through countless periodicals and plan books, expressing both the traditional aspects of the Arts and Crafts movement as well as modern lifestyles. Though modest in design, the Ocean Park Community Hall represents the reserved type of building construction that occurred in Surrey during the austere interwar period of the mid-1920s. Incorporating quality local materials such as cedar drop siding and simple design elements, the Ocean Park Community Hall illustrates the persistent influence of the Craftsman style of architecture in Surrey during the inter-war period.

Source: City of Surrey, Planning Files

Character-Defining Elements

Key elements that define the heritage character of Ocean Park Community Hall include its:

- setting on a corner lot within the Ocean Park neighbourhood
- continuous use as a community hall
- wood-frame construction
- institutional form, scale and massing, as expressed by its one-storey height, rectangular plan, front-gabled roof and concrete foundation
- Craftsman style details such as: triangular eave brackets in the gable ends; wooden drop siding with cornerboards; exposed rafter tails; pointed bargeboards; and contrasting wood trim
- features of construction which illustrate the evolution of the building over time including the front addition with one-half-storey boomtown façade and slightly hipped roof, the south façade addition, and the early rear addition
- early windows, including original 5-over-4 multi-paned double-hung wooden sash windows on the north façade; six-paned wooden sash windows on the south and east façades; and eight-paned wooden sash casement windows on the south façade
- interior features such as maple floors in the main hall and a raised stage
- original landscape features including tall, mature trees