In February 1946, a group of people (representing more than two dozen community organizations) came together under the chairmanship of Louis G. Howard to form the Selkirk and District Memorial Committee. On the evening of January 17, 1952, Memorial Hall was officially opened and dedicated to the men and women who gave their lives in the Boer War, First World War and Second World War.
The chapel was dedicated the same night, after wreaths had been laid by the city and Veterans’ organizations. Rev. R. N. R. Holmes, an active navy chaplain during the Second World War, performed the blessing. Items in the small chapel include a Book of Remembrance containing the names of those who died, a stained-glass window, and the bell from HMCS Daerwood. More recently, it became home to the 108 Battalion War Memorial bronze tablet.
Louis G. Howard presented the keys for the Memorial Hall to Mayor Steve Oliver on January 28, 1952. Howard’s committee work did not end there, as it still had a $10,000 debt. A new fundraising campaign began in February 1952, which took more than a year to complete.
