The Burren Junction School of Arts Hall is a significant landmark in Burren Junction and it plays an important role in the local community as a center for cultural, social, and educational activities.
Built with donations from local residents between 1904 and 1914, the hall is a beautiful, airy, wooden structure with a rich history. The annual Tennis Club Ball was the highlight of the social season in its early days. In 2014 the Council condemned the building, which had fallen into disrepare, but a group of citizens set to work to restore the hall, adding a brand new purpose built kitchen and a refurbished Supper Room. Work has continued over the last decade so that now the Hall is fully equipped to host meetings, ball, plays, concerts, film nights, the annual Flower Show and Market Day and many other popular events.
Recently, the Progress Association has raised money to restore the old "Smoker's Room" and turn it into a boutique museum housing valuable memorabilia about the town's rich railway, sporting, agricultural and social history.
The War Memorial
ADD ANOTHER PICTURE OF WAR MEMORIAL
At the same time as the Hall Committee was restoring the hall, it turned it attention to restoring the First and Second World War Honour Boards in the hall and raising funds to build a War Memorial. Burren Junction has always commemorated Anzac Day in a ceremony led by the Year 6 children from the Public School, and it seemed fitting to build a Memorial alongside the School of Arts Hall. Nowadays the march begins outside the School and ends at the School of Arts Hall and the War Memorial, and is an important event in the life of this small town who sent many men to fight in both World Wars.
It is well worth driving past the Hall and the War Memorial, situated on Alma Street, opposite the park and having a look at these two historic landmarks.