Filling the Need for Assembly Halls

Over the years, facilities of many kinds have been used for circuit assemblies. Jehovah’s Witnesses have rented such places as civic auditoriums, schools, theaters, armories, sports arenas, and fairgrounds. In a few localities, very fine facilities were available at a reasonable price. More often, much time and effort was required to clean the place, set up sound equipment, erect a platform, and truck in chairs. Sometimes there were last-minute cancellations. As the number of congregations grew, it became more and more difficult to find enough suitable places. What could be done?

Once again, the solution was for Jehovah’s Witnesses to have places of their own. This would involve renovating suitable structures and building new ones. The first of such Assembly Halls in the United States was a theater in Long Island City, New York, renovated and put to use by Jehovah’s Witnesses late in 1965.

At about the same time, Witnesses on the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe were designing an Assembly Hall to meet their needs. They felt that it would be advantageous if they could have their circuit assemblies in many different locations. But most of the towns did not have facilities that were large enough. So the Witnesses built a portable structure made of steel pipes and aluminum roofing, something that would be adequate for 700 people and that could be erected wherever there was an available plot of land that was relatively flat. They had to enlarge the hall again and again, until it reached a capacity of 5,000. Just imagine moving, setting up, and dismantling 30 tons of material for every assembly! That Assembly Hall was built and taken down several times a year for 13 years, until land for the portable hall became hard to find and it was necessary to purchase land and erect a permanent Assembly Hall, which now serves for circuit assemblies and district conventions.

In quite a few places, Assembly Hall projects made use of existing buildings. In England, at Hays Bridge, Surrey, a 50-year-old school complex was purchased and renovated. It is nestled in 28 acres [11 ha] of beautiful countryside. Former movie theaters and an industrial warehouse were remodeled and put to use in Spain; an unused textile factory in Australia; a dance hall in Quebec, Canada; a bowling alley in Japan; a warehouse in the Republic of Korea. All of these were made over into attractive Assembly Halls that could serve well as large centers for Bible education.

Other Assembly Halls were completely new, having been constructed from the ground up. The unique octagonal design of the hall at Hellaby, South Yorkshire, England, along with the fact that much of the work was done with volunteer labor gave rise to an article in the journal of the Institution of Structural Engineers. The Assembly Hall at Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, in Canada, was designed to seat 1,200; but when interior walls are pulled into place, the structure can be used as four side-by-side Kingdom Halls. Haiti’s Assembly Hall (prefabricated and shipped from the United States) was open on two sides so that those seated inside would constantly be cooled by the prevailing winds—a welcome relief from the hot Haitian sun. The hall in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, was designed in such a way that sections of the walls could be opened like doors in order to accommodate crowds larger than would fit inside.

The decision to build an Assembly Hall is not made by a small group of overseers who then expect everyone else to support it. Before any new Assembly Hall is built, the Society sees to it that a careful analysis is made as to the need for it and the amount of use that it will have. Consideration is given not just to local enthusiasm for the project but also to the overall needs of the field. It is discussed with all the congregations that will be involved, in order to ascertain the desire and ability of the brothers to support it.

Thus, when the work gets under way, Jehovah’s Witnesses in the area are wholeheartedly behind it. Each project is financed by the Witnesses themselves. The financial needs are explained, but contributions are voluntary and anonymous. Careful planning is done in advance, and the project benefits from experience already gained in building Kingdom Halls and, frequently, from Assembly Hall projects in other places. Where necessary, some aspects of the work may be let out to commercial contractors, but most of it is usually done by enthusiastic Witnesses. This may cut the cost in half.

With a work force made up of skilled professionals and others who volunteer their time and talents, the entire project usually moves along quickly. Some projects may require more than a year. But on Vancouver Island in Canada, in 1985, some 4,500 volunteers completed a 25,000-square-foot [2,300 sq m] Assembly Hall in just nine days. The structure also includes a 200-seat Kingdom Hall for use by local congregations. In New Caledonia, a curfew was imposed by the government in 1984 because of political unrest, yet up to 400 volunteers worked on the Assembly Hall at a time, and it was completed in just four months. Near Stockholm, Sweden, a beautiful, practical Assembly Hall, with 900 padded oak chairs, was built in seven months.

Sometimes persistent efforts in the courts have been necessary in order to obtain permits to build these Assembly Halls. That was true in Canada at Surrey, British Columbia. When the land was purchased, the zoning requirements allowed for the building of such a place of worship. But after building plans were submitted, in 1974, the Council for the District of Surrey passed a bylaw stipulating that churches and assembly halls could be built only in Zone P-3—a zone that did not exist! Yet, 79 churches had previously been built in the municipality without any trouble. The matter was taken to court. Repeated rulings were given in favor of Jehovah’s Witnesses. When hindrance of prejudiced officials was at last cleared aside, the volunteer workers pursued the project with such enthusiasm that they completed it in about seven months. As was true of Nehemiah in his efforts to rebuild the walls of ancient Jerusalem, they felt that the ‘hand of God was upon them’ to accomplish the work.—Neh. 2:18.

When Jehovah’s Witnesses in the United States purchased the Stanley Theater in Jersey City, New Jersey, the building was on the state’s register of historic places. Although the theater was in a deplorable state of disrepair, it had excellent potential for use as an Assembly Hall. Yet, when the Witnesses wanted to do needed repair work, city officials refused permits. The mayor did not want Jehovah’s Witnesses in that area; he had other plans for the property. Court action was needed in order to restrain officials from the unlawful use of their authority. The court ruled in favor of the Witnesses. Soon after that, local residents voted the mayor out of office. Work on the hall moved ahead quickly. The result was a beautiful Assembly Hall that seated over 4,000. It is a place that businessmen and residents of the city alike are proud of.

During the past 27 years, in many parts of the globe, attractive and practical Assembly Halls have been built by Jehovah’s Witnesses to serve as centers for Bible education. Such halls are now found in ever-increasing numbers in North and South America, Europe, Africa, and the Orient, as well as on many islands. In some lands—for example, Nigeria, Italy, and Denmark—Jehovah’s Witnesses have even built larger, permanent, open-air facilities that can be used for their district conventions.

[Box/Pictures on page 330]

Assembly Halls of Jehovah’s Witnesses

In order to accommodate their periodic assemblies, Jehovah’s Witnesses in some areas have found it practical to build their own Assembly Halls. Much of the construction work is done by local Witnesses. Here are just a few of these halls in use in the early 1990’s

Britain

Venezuela

Italy

Germany

Canada

Japan