Blake Ellis/The Independent

Plympton-Wyoming’s only historically significant building is up for sale

Plympton-Wyoming council agreed to sell the Old Plympton Town Hall July 10 instead of consulting with the public about what to do with the building.

A report compiled by Chief Administrative Officer Adam Sobanski asked for a consultation plan about the future use of the hall be started.

The hall on Egremont Road was built in 1869 and was the seat of the former Plympton Township municipal government until the mid-1950s. It was also the first site of what is now the Plympton-Wyoming Fair. In the 1950s, it became a community hall with a community committee taking care of it.

But rentals dwindled in the past years, with only the occasional bridal shower renting the building.
In 2022, with public works employees refusing to work in the dilapidated shed and the hall, council voted to stop renting the building.

For the past two years it has been empty, costing taxpayers about $5,000 per year to maintain.
So when the report on consulting the public was introduced, Deputy Mayor Netty McEwen had enough. She put forward a motion to declare the property off Oil Heritage Road surplus and be offered for sale through public tender.

McEwen, who every budget deliberation for the past five years has suggested the town get rid of the hall, pointed to the costs of keeping the building.

Sobanski’s report says it would cost the municipality $440,000 to restore the building or $150,000 to demolish the structure, while it would cost the town another $5,000 each year that it remains in the hands of municipality.

“This is not a simple restoration,” said Sobanski. There would need to be a ramp installed and doors need to be the proper width to make the building accessible for those in wheelchairs. There is also some electrical work, as well as some improvements on the foundation.

Councillor Bob Woolvett called the report incomplete, saying the report doesn’t address what may be up in the attic or underneath in the foundation. “I’ve been around old buildings all of my life,” said Woolvett. “I do believe there may be someone out there…who wants to preserve it spend the money on it…there was some pretty passionate people out there in the community about that building …if there is someone out there who may very well want to fix it up.”

The costs were a concern for Councillor Alex Boughen, saying every project usually goes over budget.
Councillor Mike Vasey agreed. “This building was never preserved historically, it looks like something out of That 70s Show,” he says.

Vasey added even if there was a community desire to fix the hall up, it is impractical.
“It is in the middle of no where, no one is going to travel to come look at it, it is going to be another building we own and maintain and pay the bills on it,” Vasey says adding the town should “cut our losses…hope someone can use it because we certainly can’t.”

Council voted unanimously to sell off the building.