Description du lieu patrimonial

The Youbou Community Hall is a large, two and a half storey, white utilitarian building located at 8550 Hemlock Street in Youbou, British Columbia. Youbou Community Hall has a gable-roofed main building with a large shed-roofed extension at the southwest side and a small shed extension to the northeast. The front of the Youbou Community Hall has a partially enclosed porch on the main building and a covered multi-storey staircase on the large extension. This historic site is limited to the building footprint.

Valeur patrimoniale

The Youbou Community Hall has historic value for its association with the early development of the Youbou community and for representing the settlement patterns in the Cowichan Lake area. There is also social value in the Youbou Community Halls long continuous use as a community meeting place and recreational location.

Built on land donated by the Empire Logging Company, this historic place represents the settlement patterns of the early logging community of Youbou. The Youbou Community Halls location on its original site and its proximity to the lake shore, Yount Elementary School, New Hope Community Church, and other important services provides the present community with a glimpse into the early layout of the Youbou community. It is valued for its physical reflection of the early development of Youbou.

Opened in 1931, the Youbou Community Hall is the oldest hall still in use in the Cowichan Lake area. As such, this hall provides the most direct link to the communities that were formed during the early logging days of Cowichan Lake. The Youbou Community Hall is valued for its association with both the development of Youbou and of the Cowichan Lake area.

In 1951, the Youbou bowling alley was added to the community hall, and has been in continuous use since. As the only sanctioned hand set bowling alley in Canada, the Youbou Lanes provides a unique historic and recreational experience to both community members and visitors. There is historic and cultural value in the well-maintained original elements of this bowling alley, as well as in the recreational contribution Youbou Lanes has made to the community.

Youbou Community Hall also has social value as a centre for community events that has continuously provided the people of Youbou with a place to socialize and interact. Due to its central and convenient location, as well as its variety of resources, the Youbou Community Hall has continuously functioned as a community gathering place since its development.

Source: Cowichan Valley Regional District, Planning and Development Department

Éléments caractéristiques

Key elements that define the heritage character of the Youbou Community Hall include its:
- Continuous use as a community meeting place for events and recreational activities
- The hand-set bowling alley
- Original location and visibility from the main road
- interior elements of the building related to its use as a social centre, including the stage, open character of the gymnasium, meeting room, and high ceilings
- Youbou Community Hall and Bowling Alley signage
- All of the interior elements related to the use of the bowling alley, including the lanes, scoreboards, pin-setters seats.
- murals and signage, as well as all original materials, within the bowling alley