Description of Historic Place

Saint Peter and Saint Paul Orthodox Church Hall is a Municipal Heritage Property located on a .1 ha parcel of rural land adjoining the Saints Peter and Paul Romanian Orthodox Church site, approximately 30 kilometres southwest of the Town of Assiniboia. The property features a small, one-storey wood-frame building believed to have been constructed ca. 1920s.

Heritage Value

The heritage value of Saint Peter and Saint Paul Orthodox Church Hall lies in its long service as a meeting place for the congregation of Saints Peter and Paul Romanian Orthodox Church. Romanian immigrants began homesteading in this area of southern Saskatchewan in the early 1900s and by 1911 had established an Orthodox parish and church. The hall was constructed some years afterward to accommodate the meals and social time that followed Sunday church services and accompanied events such as weddings and funerals. In addition to hosting church-related functions, the hall was also an important social and cultural centre where dances, teas and dinners provided welcome entertainment and fellowship for community members. The Romanian language lessons and traditional Romanian dance classes that were held in the hall helped the community maintain a sense of connection with their cultural heritage. Having served as a temporary home for the local public school in the 1930s, the hall is also associated with the newcomers’ assimilation and adoption of Canadian identity.

Today, the hall continues to be an important gathering place. Get-togethers after summertime church services, card parties, dinners, dances, and other social occasions are still valued activities that reflect the community’s strong sense of identity and solidarity.

Source:

Rural Municipality of Stonehenge No. 73 Bylaws No. 1/91 and 8/03.

Character-Defining Elements

The heritage value of Saint Peter and Saint Paul Orthodox Church Hall resides in the following character-defining elements:
-elements that express the hall’s connection to the community and its role as a gathering place, including the building’s location on its original site next to Saints Peter and Paul Romanian Orthodox Church, its simplicity of form and materials, and its interior meeting space.