Old or Unusual Kingdom Halls

[Woodland]

When we moved to a country town in the mid 60s, the Kingdom Hall was the kitchen in one of the brother's home.  There were only about 15 in the congregation and it was pretty cramped but no one seemed to mind.

[On the huh]

On ‎11‎/‎29‎/‎2018 at 7:30 PM, Woodland said:

When we moved to a country town in the mid 60s, the Kingdom Hall was the kitchen in one of the brother's home.  There were only about 15 in the congregation and it was pretty cramped but no one seemed to mind.

The kettle would have been close at hand 

[➕👇 ꓤꓱꓷꓠꓵ🎵Tone]

Very early days west of Melbourne, the rented hall was shared on some nights with the Scouts. That wasn't too bad except when they put the pie warmer on and the smell of food while at the meeting was distracting for us young'uns.

My favourite was the karate nights. We would walk past them, all dressed up in their white outfits and on floor mats kicking the stuffing out of each other, while we were learning peace in the room next door.

(Am I bad for liking that...?)

 

Older {waiting for wiser}

 

 

 

 

[Dustparticle]

 

 In our are, the old KH are being dumped by sending the congregations to other newer halls.

[DavidMc]

Back in the 1950s, to access our Kingdom Hall, situated in the town centre, we first climbed a flight of stairs from a high street shop to

a landing that doubled as a waiting room for Mr Green the Dentist [scary memories of having a tooth extracted there], then up another

flight of stairs to a small landing leading to the door to the KHall. Also there was a door to a small unlit toilet off the landing.

 

That KHall was my first experience of being in a congregation. Although I have memories of the actual place, my fondest memories are for

the lovely Brothers and Sisters, many of whom are now awaiting a resurrection. I enjoyed sitting near the front right hand side where I

could watch sis Ma Makepeace playing the old creaky harmonium.

 

Then in the late 1970s I moved towns for work and the KHall was situated above an ice-cream factory. We got used to the hum from the

freezers. To access the KHall we climbed a double flight of stairs. A brother and myself carried a disabled brother up these stairs each

meeting he could attend. The room we used had an uneven floor with a slope towards the windows. We always joked that an angel held up the

floor. Many happy memories of old timers we are waiting to meet again soon.

 

Like old photographs that spark reminiscences, remembering old KHalls trigger memories of those who made these places warm, inviting, safe

places to grow your family to spiritual maturity.

 

[DavidMc]

20 minutes ago, DavidMc said:

Then in the late 1970s I moved towns for work

Should read: 'Then in the late 1960s...'

[jwhess]

5 hours ago, Dustparticle said:

 

 In our are, the old KH are being dumped by sending the congregations to other newer halls.

Br. Glenn, while age is a factor, merging congregations is mostly about filling seats in the auditorium.  We have have had a half-dozen mergers recently and only two involved older halls.  One was just 15-20 years old and in very nice shape.  One of our mergers involved two halls of mature age (2 oldest in the circuit, as I recall).  We kept one and closed the other.  Our organization is very serious about using the seating capacity we already have. Our merging resulted in the elimination of a whole circuit (dispersed to 3 other circuits).

[Dustparticle]

22 minutes ago, jwhess said:

Br. Glenn, while age is a factor, merging congregations is mostly about filling seats in the auditorium.  We have have had a half-dozen mergers recently and only two involved older halls.  One was just 15-20 years old and in very nice shape.  One of our mergers involved two halls of mature age (2 oldest in the circuit, as I recall).  We kept one and closed the other.  Our organization is very serious about using the seating capacity we already have. Our merging resulted in the elimination of a whole circuit (dispersed to 3 other circuits).

 Good points. I was told one factor was the halls were old and they are too. In one hall, one congregation was crowded and need to expand. Jehovah will take care of the matter.

[Qapla]

Yes, the goal is to fill the seats more efficiently - however, I would imagine that, if a merger is needed, the Hall needing the most repairs or having the higher maintenance cost would be the logical one to sell. In many cases, this will be the oldest Hall - but, not always.

[1MKnight]

My old Kingdom Hall was an ex synagogue. It was large and circular with tall, abstract stained-glass windows.

 

 

It was quite a cool hall. I wish I had some interior pictures, but I can't find any.

 

*edit*: in looking for some interior pictures, I found something out. The yellowpages website listing for this building still lists it as a Kingdom Hall (even though it's been sold for nearly 10 years) and an apostate has taken it upon themselves to post an "image" of the hall to the gallery. The "image" is just the web address of an apostate propaganda site. I just figured I'd share so you are cautious when searching through public listing sites. 

[Meditate!]

On 11/28/2018 at 12:29 PM, pholmes38 said:

Our Kingdom Hall was built in 1969, i believe. We have had some refurbishments over the years.

We are on the list for a refurbishmet/renovation, so it may fit in with the 50 year anniversary next year

Hi Paul..

 

Your comments confirmed my thinking that you are an elder in the sister congregation Erdington/Stockland Green/BSL

 

Same hall obviously... I helped build the hall when i was young.. ...... well played in the sand pit at least

[Meditate!]

19 hours ago, 1MKnight said:

My old Kingdom Hall was an ex synagogue. It was large and circular with tall, abstract stained-glass windows.

 

 

It was quite a cool hall. I wish I had some interior pictures, but I can't find any.

 

*edit*: in looking for some interior pictures, I found something out. The yellowpages website listing for this building still lists it as a Kingdom Hall (even though it's been sold for nearly 10 years) and an apostate has taken it upon themselves to post an "image" of the hall to the gallery. The "image" is just the web address of an apostate propaganda site. I just figured I'd share so you are cautious when searching through public listing sites. 

Thanks for that..

 

Edited December 3, 2018 by Alan
Forgot something

[pholmes38]

2 hours ago, Alan said:

Hi Paul..

 

Your comments confirmed my thinking that you are an elder in the sister congregation Erdington/Stockland Green/BSL

 

Same hall obviously... I helped build the hall when i was young.. ...... well played in the sand pit at least

 

Thats correct - Erdington - been there myself since a 5 year old in 1972

[tucker]

The Assembly Hall in San Antonio, Texas has a painting on the stage back that is done so skilfully that it looks three-dimensional. I don't have a picture because I moved back to Colorado  in 2010. Check it out if you have the opportunity!

[Tyrrha]

3 hours ago, tucker said:

The Assembly Hall in San Antonio, Texas has a painting on the stage back that is done so skilfully that it looks three-dimensional. I don't have a picture because I moved back to Colorado  in 2010. Check it out if you have the opportunity!

 

[Miss Bea]

Someplace in Arizona. (I think) a brother and sister just got back from a road trip to Arizona. They got the address of the hall they intended to go to for the meeting. Drove up and down, looking for it. There it was. A historical building that had to be kept, ,”as is”. Thing was, it was a Catholic Church, once upon a time. If you can imagine. 

Hard to think about. But,  this brother is a credible source. Very. 

I would say that was unusual...

[Gimestr]

The Kingdom Hall I go to use to be the old Jackie Gleason rehearsal hall.  It is where they would practice all the dances and skits for the Jackie Gleason show.  I was 19 when we worked on the hall.  If you see it now, it looks like it was always a Kingdom Hall.

 

I remember a big deal with acquiring the hall is that we bought it dirt cheap as it had not be used in a decade.

Edited January 8, 2019 by Gimestr