CC55 celebrates on Sept. 30
More than 30 years of serving the community
by Sheila Blinoff, Beach Metro News

There’s a birthday party on Sept. 30 and you’re invited. Centre 55 is celebrating 32 years of serving this area. And while CC55 is now very much a respected part of the community, its early days were not easy.

At the beginning of the 70s, city facilities we now take for granted did not exist. There were no Beaches, Balmy Beach, Adam Beck, Earl Beatty, Applegrove or Birchcliff Bluffs centres.

When word got out that, after 61 years, the police station at 97 Main St. was moving to Coxwell and Dundas, local residents met on Feb. 24, 1972 to discuss strategies to secure it for a community centre. Representatives from churches, home and school associations, libraries, scouts and guides, along with concerned residents, came to the meeting in Emmanuel Presbyterian Church at 21 Swanwick.

“Now is our chance, north of Kingston Road, to have something for our community,” said the group’s leader, Ron Kelly, a local firefighter.

There was competition for 97 Main St. The Department of Emergency Services wanted the space as a training school and ambulance station, but later withdrew its request. With the help of the local alderman Reid Scott, the group gained the support of the parks and recreation department and won approval from City Council. The city contributed $100,000 for renovations.

On Nov. 30, 1974 Michael Neuland cut the ribbon to open the centre. Neuland had a special relationship with the building. He had been born on a table at the police station 13 years earlier. Also at the opening ceremony were Joe Latimer, a policeman who had assisted at the birth, and Mayor David Crombie, along with almost 1,000 wellwishers. The 104th Guides served refreshments.

The centre was governed by a board of management elected annually. In the 70s, these elections were contentious occasions attended by partisans with their own visions of how the centre should operate. Large crowds showed up and passed out slates to vote for. On one occasion, a group of seniors was bussed in, but arrived too late to cast ballots.

In February, 1978, City Council stepped in to settle a dispute. It was alleged that non-residents of the city were among the 80 voters at a recent election. This was seen as a test case for community centres – should there be elected or appointed boards. By approving the board, city hall and set a precedent for other community centres.

In March, 1979, Ward 9 News reported that a basic difference in philosophy was causing bitterness. The 1978 board was pleased with programs offered (disco and belly dancing lessons, yoga, weaving, floor hockey etc.) but the 1979 chair said that a birth control and VD clinic were vital programs she would like to see instituted. Other members of the board then stated that they did not share the chair’s enthusiasm for such programs.

The fractious 70s were a difficult time for staff at the centre. As boards changed, so did personnel. However by the early 80s a sense of stability was achieved, although elections still evoked much local interest. For the 1983 election over 200 people showed up – of course producing identification to show they were indeed city residents.

1983 was the start of serious fundraising. Although the city paid for the running of the building and salaries of the main staff, the centre was responsible for its own fundraising to cover other activities. From its inception, CC55 had been a place where groups without money could use the space without charge.

The spaghetti dinners of the 70s were replaced by more elaborate events. In 1983, residents enter a draw to be Mayor for a Day which included a night at the King Edward Hotel with breakfast and a limousine thrown in. For 19 years, the centre organized teams of canoeists who raised funds by paddling across “30 gruelling miles” of Lake Ontario on Canada Day, some in replicas of an old Hudson Bay north canoe. In 1996 a specially-designed canoe for disabled paddlers was included in the flotilla.

In 1987 there was a vacation contest that lasted all year. For $120 participants were eligible for 12 monthly draws to win a $2,000 holidays. Later the centre produced its own Christmas cards, and bottled water from a well at Blue Mountain.

In recent years, annual raising money for the centre’s programs have included the Boathouse Beer & Wine Garden during the Jazz Festival, a golf tournament, the Poker Run, and cruise night on Lake Ontario, a silent auction, Slobberfest, pewter ornament sales and the 12 Cheers of Christmas pub night.

Today the centre operates as a charity and multi-service community centre, assisting “the lost, the lonely, the homeless, the hungry and the confused.” Groups meeting at 97 Main St. represent a wide spectrum of interests such as the various anon groups (alcohol, cocaine, debt), Autism Parent Support Group, Pegasus program for developmentally-challenged adults, Beach Photo Club, Beaches Speeches Toastmasters, prenatal classes, a restorative justice group, teen drama club, and folklore dancers. The centre also runs a full-time daycare, after 4 program and summer camp.

In 1984, a new character moved into 97 Main St. – Hamper, the centre’s mascot. The eight-foot reindeer appears at local events and is the figurehead for the annual Share-A-Christmas campaign which mobilizes over 2,000 volunteers to provide and deliver Christmas hampers to over 600 needy families.

To find out more about this centre, join its executive director Bob Murdoch and staff, its chairman Glenn Cochrane and board, and its supporters at the 32nd birthday party from noon to four. Speeches will be short. There will be birthday cake for all. MP Maria Minna has arranged to have the flag from the Peace Tower in Ottawa flown at the centre, and two trees will be planted by the entrance to commemorate the day.