Doors to the Orillia Community Centre locked!

I titled this thread that way because I honestly think it's going to take divine intervention to save the "old barn" this time! So, I guess this is more of an obituary!

I know the place wasn't built with the expertize or the materials of the pyramids. It was built with love and dedication by a bunch of sports loving volunteers in 1950. I have a huge picture of an uncle(lacrosse playing "Hurricane" Hank)pouring the last wheel barrow of finishing cement at centre ice. I have several more of another uncle, who managed the place until his death in 1970, escorting many Canadian celebrities of the 50's and 60's into the ballroom where they would entertain the "mucky-mucks" of "Mariposa"! My mother and aunt ran the concession stands until the 80's. We have won more National Championships in that barn than a town(we're a city now)of our population deserve. I've always said that the way the rest of the province treats us, if Thunder Bay is the head and Windsor is the feet, they treat us like we're the arsehole of Ontario!(Orillia has a rich history and has been home to many important events in Canada's past. For example, Orillia introduced Daylight Savings Time to North America and Orillia had the very first hydroelectric transmission plant. From the shores of Orillia, one can go anywhere in the world. The Trent Severn Waterway connects Lake Couchiching through three locks and also to the only marine railway in North America. From there it's Georgian Bay to Lake Huron and through the Great Lakes to the St. Lawrence Seaway and to the Atlantic. From Lake Simcoe, you can get to Lake Ontario and then to the waterways of the world)Back in the 70's we would have "Beer Fests", on the arena floor, that would benefit local sports associations or charities. They quickly went the way of the Dodo though, as the local police station couldn't hold all those who got arrested. The bands that played there are too many to mention, but they ranged from Jeff Healy to Don Messer and of course hometown troubadour Gordon Lightfoot.
They have put the locks on the doors and now we have hundreds of kids, and adults too, that have lost not just a place to play hockey and lacrosse. They are losing a building that's full of memories.

I've laughed, cried, danced, fought, played, coached, refereed, got arrested and I even did "the horizontal mambo" in the old place on more than one occasion. I will miss the old girl! R.I.P.

R.W.R.