New Committee Plans Gala To Promote Town Hall

By Kendra Bobowick

“We’re limping along,” said Board of Managers member Sandra Motyka. Also a member of the recently established Mary Hawley Society steering committee, she is among a small group including the managers who are worried about the Edmond Town Hall’s future.

As the committee prepares for an October fundraising gala, an understanding of the coming changes has already arrived, occupying many conversations among the Board of Managers in the last year-and-a-half. What were once whispers are now clear concerns about how to protect the town hall as changes take place. Plans to relocate town offices to a renovated Fairfield Hills location, which are quickly developing, was a first indicator that the historic Edmond Town Hall’s uses would shift. Further pushing the need to adapt are tenants — the public and private groups that regularly retain use of a room or space at town hall — that have moved out.

During the August 20 meeting Ms Motyka noted, “We have lost a lot of revenue.” Within the last year the Chamber of Commerce offices have relocated, and most recently the local Weight Watchers chapter also has found other meeting rooms. Thinking positively, the managers had said that as town offices empty out, rental space opens up. Also, the managers and now the Mary Hawley Society steering committee are pursuing opportunities.

Adding to the pool of potential is resident Ed Marks, the Parks and Recreation Committee chairman, and also a JPMorgan Chase Bank representative. Speaking briefly to the board during its August meeting, Mr Marks, now a familiar face, stressed what he had said to the managers previously, “I still would love to work with you.” In past months, as the board members struggled with increasing utility and maintenance costs and also grappled with a larger need for overall revenue, they had begun to question the returns from a trust fund set aside for the building by benefactress Mary Hawley. Mr Marks said he would like to manage the trust. Mr Marks said, “Being a Newtown resident, I can’t think of anything more honorable than working on the Mary Hawley Trust.”

The Alexandria Room and adjoining kitchen are also slated for upgrades and renovations in the interest of increasing the building’s revenue. Managers feel the building needs more than improvements, however. They also believe it needs the community’s support.

Aimed at kindling a larger public interest is an upcoming Gala Tasting of Wines and Single Malt Scotches scheduled for Saturday, October 27, from 6 to 8 pm, in the Alexandria Room of town hall offering more than 50 wines, samples of scotch, light fair, and music.

“It’s a kick-off for a string of events,” Ms Motyka explained. “We have to start somewhere.” She hopes the evening will lead to a growing interest in the historic, nearly 80-year-old building. “We want to raise awareness of the needs of the building.”

Former Board of Managers member Jane Sharpe has become involved with the steering committee. Sharing Ms Motyka’s thoughts, she said, “The wine tasting is an initial event to familiarize people with the aspirations to restore the town hall.” She also hopes to attract members to the Mary Hawley Society steering committee.

Town budget funds are “barely enough” to pay utilities, which includes oil bills of several thousand dollars a month in the colder months.

Organizing the gala are three co-chairpersons, Marg Studley, Ms Motyka, and Ms Sharpe. The steering committee’s first project is to raise funds to fund the Alexandria Room and kitchen renovations.

What is the committee’s long-term purpose? “To improve on the community structure [Mary Hawley] expected,” Ms Sharpe said. She looked to Mary Hawley herself for clues about how to steer the town hall toward the future.

“The fact is Mary Hawley wrote in her will that she wanted the town clerk and judge of probate [in the town hall], but she planned for it to be a community facility,” Ms Sharpe said. Taking her cue from Ms Hawley, she said, “So, no matter what happens with town hall in the future, it will be a community building and center for civic groups.” In contradiction to Ms Hawley’s desire to see a building that welcomed the community with a theater, kitchen and banquet hall, downstairs gymnasium, and bowling alley that has been renovated, she was a private person. “She was very reserved and almost an agoraphobic person,” Ms Sharpe said. “But, she believed in community.”

Her devotion is clear to Ms Sharpe, who noted that Ms Hawley gave the Newtown the town hall, the Hawley School, and the C.H. Booth Library. “Though she had her own difficulty being comfortable with a social life, she believed in community and wanted to create a social life for the town.”

Contact the managers’ office at 270-4285.