Bragg Creek’s historic Roundhall is reopened and ready to start bumping again.
“Everyone thought we were crazy,” Barbara Teghtmeyer said with a laugh, Bragg Creek Trading Post owner and driving force behind the restoration of the hall.
“I am glad (the restoration) is over … and the encouragement from the community was awesome.”
The uniquely-shaped hall was built in the early 1920s, known for hosting polling stations, Christmas concerts, Saturday night dances and a variety of other community events. Teghtmeyer’s mother hosted Saturday night dances at the hall for a decade and a half from the 1950s to 1970s. Teghtmeyer said she has heard stories from people in the area saying the iconic dances are where spouses first met.
“Ladies in the area would come up and sit down on one side of the hall, and the (suitors) would line up on the other side – by the end of the night they would all be dancing,” Teghtmeyer said with a smile.
“We had a renowned dance floor.”
The last formal event hosted at the hall was in 1986. The couple was the family’s third generation to host a wedding at the Roundhall, before the doors were closed.
The hall was closed due to the age and condition of the building in the late 1980s – then in 2011 Teghtmeyer said she was inspired to restore the building.
“I started having nightmares that we either had to bulldoze or restore the building and I was doing nothing (in the dream),” Teghtmeyer explained.
After some discussion and planning, the restoration process started in 2011. The building had to be moved while workers put a new round foundation, to raise the elevation, when the 2013 flood hit.
“That delayed the process,” Teghtmeyer explained.
With the community trying to rebuild and Teghtmeyer trying to get the Bragg Creek Trading Post back up and operational, the restoration’s for the Roundhall started again in 2014 with most of the process done by 2015.
Then, for the first time in 30 years, the Roundhall hosted its first community event on Sept. 24 with Bragg Creek musicians.
“The (community) loved it – they are thrilled to have this back in the community,” Teghtmeyer said.
The hall is now open and available for private event rentals and non-profit groups, on a case-by-case basis.
Owners are also seeking information and photographs from anyone who utilized the hall from the 1920s to 1980s. If anyone has any documents, contact Barbara at the Bragg Creek Trading Post.
The Roundhall is located at 57 Bracken Road, Bragg Creek. For more information call the Bragg Creek Trading Post at 403-949-3737 and ask for Barbara.
