Some may consider me a newcomer, only a resident for a little over 50 years, but I have had considerable connections to Memorial Hall during that time. I served on a study committee in the 1980s, followed by a second study a few years later that morphed into a building committee in the 1990s. To clarify, Memorial Hall is the extended lobby dedicated to veterans. The auditorium was built to provide the town with a large multipurpose venue.
The focus of the 1990s renovations was compliance with 512 CMR and ADA accessibility. Along with that, various repairs and improvements were undertaken with a very limited budget. The budget did not include any money for new seats, even though ADA required removing the old seats. Eventually, a few dedicated citizens created a nonprofit to fund raise and pay for new seats. Anyone who experienced the original, broken, wooden, splintering seats was elated when the hall reopened. The roof was repaired and insulated, old soft insulation on the roof interior was removed as the most critical change recommended to improve acoustics.
Memorial Hall and the auditorium are a most important, critical part of Plymouth and should be treated with the respect and dedication of resources they deserve. We need to embrace our responsibilities to preserve and protect this venerated building.
– Paul F. Blanchard