When people either drive or walk past the present Greenfield Veterans Mall and the monuments within it, I wonder if any of them ask themselves what was there before the mall was dedicated in 1965.
I remember that location on Main Street once held a very large building with several floors called Washington Hall. Inside was the Greenfield town offices and a very large entertainment center, which I believe was on the top floor. My father told me that boxing and wrestling matches, dances and no doubt movies took place there.
When I was a teenager, I went to one of the teenage dances at Washington Hall. Boys sat on one side and girls on the other. It was expected that the boys would go over and ask girls if they wanted to dance, one girl at a time.
I remember asking a girl named Diane. I think she is still alive and lives in Greenfield, but I doubt she remembers me. She was a beautiful girl and may be the same presently. I wasn’t a very good dancer, but she was, and over the years I did get better at it.
Washington Hall was eventually demolished and all town offices were moved to the current building on Court Square, next to the Second Congregational Church.
The Police Department, which had been housed in a smaller, one-story building behind Washington Hall, was the only exception. My sister, Margaret Hammond, worked as a secretary to five police chiefs in that building. The department later moved to the Kaiser Permanente building on High Street, which was available after the nonprofit health maintenance organization merged with Community Health Plan in 1996.
On the corner of Main and Miles streets, there was another landmark building called the Davenport Block. Following a fire, that building was also torn down. A parking lot now sits in its place.
I’m looking forward to a new fire station that will be built somewhere in Greenfield in the very near future. James Britton was the local architect that designed and oversaw the construction of the current station starting in 1936, which makes it 83 years old. The buildings were built by George H. Reed Co. of Greenfield. They are of colonial design and very well made.
The fire station has served excellently as a home for firefighters and their trucks and equipment. However, the need is there for more room for technology, meeting rooms and space for the newer trucks that are made today.
The City Council is working on finding a space for a new fire station. I personally think that the need is so dear to have a new construction plan in place in the months ahead.
Greenfield was very fortunate to have great buildings that served many purposes, and it still has many left.
Robert Bitzer, 92, of Erving is a lifelong resident of Franklin County, having been born in Greenfield. His columns are inspired by extensive photo albums and thorough collections of correspondence he has compiled over the years.