On Friday 16th February 1900, the new public hall on the corner of Arthur Street and Ritchie Street, West Kilbride, was officially opened by Mrs Jane Arthur of Carlung.
In February 1897, the building housing the village’s library and recreation room was sold. The following year the committee met with Mrs Arthur with an idea of erecting a small building on land owned by Mrs Gemmill. At this meeting Mrs Arthur expressed the opinion that their idea was too modest and that they should undertake to erect a larger building, and to this end she contributed the sum of £200. The committee set about raising the money required for the new building and quite quickly raised an additional £250. A public circular helped further the cause raising the amount subscribed to £750, at which point Colonel Hunter-Weston of Hunterston subscribed £250 to ensure that all the costs involved would be met, so that when the Public Hall opened it would be free of debt. In total the committee had raised £1,000, around £107,000 in today’s money.
Elegantly designed, the new public hall was laid out as follows: The main entrance was situated on Arthur Street, with a second smaller entrance leading to the rear of the main hall off of Ritchie Street. The reading room and recreation room on the ground floor were situated on either side of the main entrance hallway. At the end of the main entrance hall, two doors led into the main hall which could seat 450 people. The architect designed the main hall with an option to later install a gallery area with additional seating should the need ever arise. Upstairs, there was a large billiard room which could hold two billiards tables, a cloak room and the caretaker’s house. Hot water pipes installed by a Glasgow firm heated the building.
The architect was Alexander Nisbet Paterson, M.A., A.R.I.B.A. (1862-1947) of Wellington Street, Glasgow, and the contractors were: Masons, R. Snodgrass & Sons of Beith; Joiner, Alexander Shedden of Dalry; Slater, Thomas McNaught of West Kilbride; Plasterer, Stobie of Irvine; Painter, William Anderson of Kilmarnock, and Plumber, Thomas Stevenson of Ardrossan.
The opening ceremony was held inside the building due to the inclement winter weather. Present, were Mr Adams of Overton, who was the Chairman of the Committee, Mrs Arthur, Colonel and Mrs Hunter-Weston, the Rev. John Lamb of West Kilbride Parish Church; Rev. William Mackenzie of the United Free Church; Rev. James C. Balderston of Overton Church, along with several other ladies and gentlemen, including the architect Mr Paterson and joiner Alexander Shedden.
Mr Paterson presented Mrs Arthur with a silver key as a memento of the opening. In her opening speech she said “I assure you I esteem it a very great honour to have been asked to officially open the door of your new public hall. I congratulate you on the very handsome building you have now got, and I trust that all the expectations that have been indulged in regarding it for the improvement of the welfare of the populace may be exceeded, and that this hall and these rooms may not only give opportunity for mental improvement, but for much social and innocent enjoyment”. Mrs Arthur then declared the hall opened.
Colonel Hunter-Weston made a vote of thanks to Mrs Arthur for agreeing to perform the opening ceremony. In his speech he hoped the facilities within the new hall would lead to the intellectual development of those using it from all ranks of society, or at least to the pursuit of mental relaxation and leisurely enjoyment.
Rev. John Lamb proposed a vote of thanks to all those who had subscribed to the creation of the Public Hall, both those living in West Kilbride, wealthy friends connected to the community and the summer visitors.
Rev. William Mackenzie praised the skills of the architect and contractors in erecting such an excellent tasteful building which was suitable adapted for all the purposes required of it.
In the evening a grand concert was held in the main hall which was well attended. Colonel Hunter-Weston started off the proceedings with a speech in which he again hoped that the library would be well used, especially by those young men and women of the town, who unable to attend university could still further their education and better themselves, and enable them to leave their own mark on history, and that the recreation room would be used by both sexes to improve their health and fitness.
In 2025, the village of West Kilbride celebrated the 125th anniversary of the Village Hall which is still well used.