The single project of the Ponoka Community Rest Room Association, this community restroom remained open from its construction in 1929 until 1992. Its primary purpose was to provide facilities for farm women while in town, providing restroom and changing room facilities, even a warm place to socialize. The building also housed a small library, the genesis of the Ponoka Public Library, and a telephone. The IODE even held meetings in the building for a time.
The building is a flat-roofed rectangular two-storey masonry structure constructed from cement blocks that resemble cut stone. Its atypical commercial style design features a principal façade with three store front type windows at street level, each flanked by a doorway, while the upper storey has four residential scale windows. Today it is home to retail spaces, possibly with apartments above, as was the case in earlier years.
Community Rest Room
Description of Historic Place
Built in 1929, the Community Rest Room is a simple, two-storey rectangular building. Constructed of cast concrete blocks, the building features three doorways and display windows on the ground level, four rectangular windows on the second storey, and a belt course and parapet along the main roofline. The Community Rest Room occupies one lot and is situated on the north side of 51st Avenue in Ponoka's main commercial district.
Heritage Value
The heritage value of the Community Rest Room lies in its association with the historic role of women in Alberta's small communities and its connection to the growth of women's organizations in the province during the first half of the twentieth century. It is also significant for its cast concrete block construction.
In rural Alberta, towns served as retail and service centres and as places for people to congregate for recreation and socializing opportunities. Street life in these towns tended to have a distinctly masculine tenor with businesses catering to men, such as hotels, bars and pool houses, proliferating. Facilities catering to the needs of women and families were essentially non-existent. Following examples in other provinces, many communities began to establish rest rooms, many of which were founded and operated by the Women's Institutes of Alberta (WIA). These utilitarian buildings typically contained washrooms, a kitchen, a sitting room, a play area for children, and a small library. They provided women with a much needed place to rest and refresh themselves, to take care of small children and to socialize with other women. A matron or caretaker, who typically lived on the premises, was often hired. In the short term, the rest rooms perpetuated the marginalization of women in town life by maintaining a clear demarcation between the male and female spheres of activity. However, in the long run, the rest rooms gave women a forum for meeting, socializing and organizing, which allowed them to play an increasingly active role in the social and political development of the province. Although the Community Rest Room in Ponoka was a local initiative, it was similar to buildings erected by the WIA. It was built in 1929 replacing an earlier, wood frame rest room at the same location. The two-storey, 50'x 20'concrete block building cost $5107.55, which was paid for through fundraising and a $1,450 mortgage, which was repaid within four years. At completion, its amenities included a waiting room and a washroom on the main floor, and a kitchen, three toilet stalls and sinks in the basement. A small library was also present. As evidenced by the presence of four residential-sized windows, the second floor was used for apartments, which were normally used by the matron and unmarried women working in town.
As towns progressed beyond their initial development periods, better construction materials and practices were employed. The use of brick and concrete increased due to the sense of permanence and status they lent to businesses and to their fire-resistant properties. Many communities enacted by-laws and zoning regulations requiring the use of fire-resistant materials, particularly in commercial areas where buildings often abutted their neighbours. Concrete, which could be either poured in place or cast in blocks, was highly valued for its durability and fireproofing qualities. However, aside from basements, foundations and decorative work, it was rarely used in large quantities due to the relative difficulty of transporting this heavy material. By 1929, Ponoka, like many towns, had suffered a number of fires that had destroyed many structures in the commercial district, notably in 1902 and 1914. As a result, new buildings in the town's commercial area had to be constructed with more fire-resistant materials. The Community Rest Room is an example of this new kind of construction. The concrete blocks, which were formed to resemble stone, are used for all exterior walls, giving it a relatively uniform appearance. The only variation is provided through the exposure of the concrete aggregate on the simple parapet, the lintels and the wide belt course, which separates the two storeys. The heavy use of concrete serves to give the building a substantial appearance, which somewhat belies the structure's plain design.
HISTORICAL CONTEXT
The development of Ponoka and the settlement of the district were comparatively slow. It was not until 1897 that a post office was located there. With the turn of the century however, activity picked up. With a population exceeding 200, Ponoka was incorporated as a village in 1899, and a town with over 600 in 1904. During the years that followed, Ponoka's role as a service centre for its rich mixed farming hinterland was entrenched. Only the psychiatric hospital, built there in 1911, would challenge the town's central purpose of serving its agricultural hinterland. Grain elevators, livery stables, blacksmith shops, garages, churches, mercantile stores, restaurants, poolrooms, and the hotel all played their part.
One of the amenities thought worthy of an agricultural centre was a community rest room, intended mainly for women and children. Farm women frequently had time on their hands when in town while the men were about their business selling grain or other produce, getting machinery fixed, or themselves socializing in the pool room or tavern. As a result, a Ponoka Rest Room Association was formed following World War One to lobby and collect funds for such a facility. The closing of the hotel tavern in 1918 had also shut down the ladies washroom there.
Principal organizer of the Association was Evelyn Graham. With encouragement from MLA C.O. Cunningham, the town and county undertook to erect a shelter with toilet and washing facilities on what is now 51 Avenue. By the late 1920s however, this was recognized as inadequate. Further lobbying ensued, and, in 1929, James Caine and R.A. Sorenson were contracted to construct a two-storey cast stone building on the same site for 4,832 dollars. It was opened on November 30 with a formal tea.
The ground floor of the new Community Rest Room consisted of a waiting room, several toilets, and a bath. The upper storey held several residential suites (intended mainly for women) and office space. Over the years, the Rest Room was maintained by several women's organizations. It also held a library until the late 1950s, when the donated books were themselves redonated to the new Jubilee Library. The Community Rest Room continued to serve as a retreat for women until the 1990s.
From the Alberta Register of Historic Places