We’re going dancing for this week’s local history instalment of “there and gone”.
And we’re going to the Riverside Pavilion, which was built in 1932 on the banks of the Mattagami River, where the farmers market is now.
Local historian Karen Bachmann says “The Pav” was big as dance halls go, featuring its own orchestras and others.
“People like Oscar Peterson played there; Sammy Davis Jr. played there,” she says, “all kinds of performers from Southern Ontario and across Canada who were big band performers came and played at the Riverside Pavilion.”
The Pav was also the site of dance competitions. Bachmann says in its early days in the 1930s, it cashed in on the contemporary craze of dance marathons.
“Taxi dancing happened there, where you paid a dime to dance with a girl; all kinds of different things, and it was quite the centre of the community from the 30s right up until the late 50s, early 60s.”
Next week, we’ll pop in on the Hollinger houses.
