Saltcoats and District Community Hall with Murals and Old Bell

Saltcoats and District Community Hall

Location 203 Glasgow Avenue.

The three murals on the front of the hall illustrate the different halls in Saltcoats at this location. In the first painting is the Legion Hall, which was situated where the hall parking lot is now. The second mural shows the first town hall, built in 1911. It housed a council room and a banquet hall on the main floor. A Fire Hall was at one end.

The third mural shows the next town hall built in 1953 to replace the old hall. It had a large banquet dance room and a stage on the main floor. A ladies’ cloakroom was upstairs, and the basement included a kitchen, bathrooms, a smaller hall, and even a jail.

The murals were painted by Joan Wilson in 2006-7 and were unveiled at the grand opening of the newly renovated existing hall by Princess Royal, Princess Margaret on June 2, 2007.

The Old Town Hall Bell and Cairn

Located in front of the Community Hall on Glasgow Ave.

The old town bell was originally erected in the community hall in 1911. It rang daily, except Sunday, at 12 noon and at 6 p.m. It also signaled a 9 p.m. curfew and the outbreak of town and district fires. It pealed joyously at the end of each of the two world wars.

When the original town hall was torn down in 1953 the bell was mounted on a fieldstone foundation made by local resident Cliff S. Erratt.