Courtesy of Lori Spence Galloway, the Manitou Springs Women’s Club
As the new secretary for the Manitou Springs Women’s Club, I was recently given the job of posting a bit of history about the club on our Facebook page each month.
Having recently heard that the Women’s Club was integral to helping finance the purchase of Memorial Hall, our City Hall, I decided to start my research at the Manitou Springs Heritage Center with assistance from Shirley Wade, the archives coordinator, using the Women’s Club scrapbooks and Pike’s Peak Journal newspapers.
Memorial Hall’s history is intertwined with the history of the Manitou Springs Women’s Club. The vision of the club’s founders was to have a club whose object was a “united effort toward the development and promotion of the spirit of cooperation and good will, to the end that the club may raise the standard of civic life in the community.”
They persuaded the town board to purchase Lorraine Gardens, a dance hall and skating rink, for the community. The town purchased the building in the early 1940s with financial assistance from the Women’s Club and Manitou citizens.
The ladies carried out a house-to-house canvass to gather pledges of funds to purchase the building, in addition to pledging $500 from the club.
I also found references to some federal grants to help purchase and renovate the building, but I couldn’t confirm the city received them in my research.
During World War II, the building was used as a USO center to support the war effort, with the club providing both financial support and ladies to staff the recreation center. During that period, the building was called Manitou Springs Soldier Recreation Center and referred to as the recreation center in most news articles I found.
After the war, the town decided to change the name to Memorial Hall in honor of the service men and women; a renovation to adapt the building to suit the community’s needs took place in 1948. Manitou residents, businesses and clubs donated funds for the renovation, and residents did most of the work.
At this point, there were several meeting rooms intended for children’s activities, men’s clubs and the Women’s Club, as well as the kitchen and the large main room we now call Memorial Hall. The police station was on the west side and there were offices for city government.
Once again, the Women’s Club assisted in the campaign for the renovation funds.
Over the years, as our city government has grown, the building has changed with more space allocated to city offices. The Women’s Club has continued to provide financial support through grants for items such as a new commercial range for the kitchen and updates to the public restrooms.
Memorial Hall remains a much-loved gathering spot for many of Manitou’s community events, a fulfillment of the vision of the Manitou Springs Women’s Club’s founding members.
A virtual public meeting is scheduled to start at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 25, about a building redesign, which involves making Memorial Hall into city offices.
If you have an opinion about the redesign, please join this meeting and let our city leaders hear your feelings. For meeting information: go to www.manitouspringsgov.com and search for City Hall redesign.
For information about the club: manitouspringswomansclub.com.