On January 25, 1989 there was a fire at Victoria Hall that gutted the interior building and exterior wood trim. The bell was damaged in the fire but was saved and is now on display outside of the present day building.After the devastating fire, the community came together to rebuild the building. Today it is called the Victoria Playhouse Petrolia or VPP for short. The VPP contains municipal offices, council chambers, an events lobby and a beautiful theatre that seats 400 patrons.It is a national historic site and has also been designated as a heritage building.
Charles Fairbank was born July 21, 1858 in
Niagara Falls, Ontario. He moved to Oil Springs
with his father, J.H. Fairbank when he was 4.
He became a lieutenant in the Royal
Canadian Military College in Kingston.
Charles received a medical degree in 1891
at New York. He is called "The Little
Doctor" (because he wasn't tall, only
5 feet 6 ½ inches.) Charles took over his father's oil business in 1912 just before his dad became ill
and died. He lived in Petrolia with his wife,
Clara Mabel, and 4 sons: John Henry,
Charles Oliver, Henry Churchill and
Robert Theodore. Charles died in 1925.
Victoria Hall was built by leading Canadian architect, George F. Durand, in 1889 in the middle of the oil boom in Petrolia. The buff brick town hall was built in both the Queen Anne style and vernacular style. It was a challenge to make the design because there was a fire hall, police station, court room and municipal offices on the first floor. The Town insisted that a 1000-seat opera house be built on the second floor. At the top was a wooden gazebo that held the fire alarm bell, and above that four dormers held the facesof the town clock.
With the oil boom Petrolia became the home of many rich and influential families. It was common for much of the community to get together for “Assemblies” where they
would hold dress balls four times a year. These Assemblies would be held at the Oil Exchange Hall but with the opening of the new town Hall the Assemblies were moved to the Victoria Opera House.