The idea to build a cultural-entertainment centre to serve Polish-Canadians came to light in the 1960’s, and the first steps to its realization were quickly taken. In 1966, acting on a clear suggestion from PAC Branch 22’s members, Head Executive Board President Tadeusz Glista took advantage of an arising opportunity and purchased 78 acres of land on Lake Ontario in Grimsby.

The plot’s purchase, later called the “Grimsby Project,” was presented to the delegates of the XXIII General Assembly in 1967, who allowed the PAC Head Executive Board to create The Polish Alliance Holding Corporation, whose capital structure was aligned with that of the Alliance, and to begin the realization of this project.

According to the minutes of monthly PAC Head Executive Board meetings, 10.4 acres of land were sold to the Department of Highways in 1968 for the construction of the Queen Elizabeth Way. The General Assembly also approved the construction of the Centre, which was beautifully named Place Polonaise by President Tadeusz Glista.

The first symbolic “shovel of dirt” from under the new PAC structure was dug during a large picnic organized by the Head Executive Board on the newly-purchased land on July 20, 1971.

The ceremonious opening of Place Polonaise took place on May 12, 1972. This was a great event in organizational life for the Alliance and for the entire Polish community. Celebrated guests attended the ceremony, including Canadian Prime Minister Pierre W. Trudeau, envoy Dr. Stanley Haidasz, envoys to federal and provincial governments, and representatives of all Polish organizations and many Canadian organizations. Prime Minister Pierre E. Trudeau also received honourary membership to The Polish Alliance of Canada.

A period of intensive work on the Centre’s grounds began. Having sold its own Alliance Hall to the Department of Highways and having given the money to the Centre, PAC Branch 22 received the Club Room as its permanent room, contributed to the construction of Place Polonaise, and organized many events that became part of the building’s history.

Among these were: the three-day Year of Copernicus celebrations in 1973, which consisted of the “From Copernicus to NASA” display, films, a banquet, and a display of works related to astronomy by Zygmunt Kucharski, a known artist of Polish origin; many fundraisers; social evenings; Christmas parties; “Swieconka”; and many others.

The Polish School in Grimsby organized occasional academia, in honour of important anniversaries and Polish national holidays. William Kurelek’s “Polish-Canadians” exhibition of paintings took place at Place Polonaise; the paintings were later donated to the Hamilton Art Gallery. Assemblies of delegates from the PAC, Ladies’ Circles and Youth Alliances, as well as conferences of Polish-Canadian and Polish-American representatives, annual Miss Polonia Canada balls, New Year’s Eve balls, and many others, also took place at Place Polonaise.

Place Polonaise was administered by a five-person branch of the Head Executive Board, which also had PAC Branch 22 representatives.

Over the years, operating Place Polonaise became increasingly difficult, so decisions regarding PAC Branch 22 and the Centre itself needed to be made separately. At the XXX PAC General Assembly in 1981, Place Polonaise Management Chairperson Anastazja Kozlowska uttered the following sentence, which turned out to be prophetic and loaded with consequences in later years:

“Regardless of earnest attempts made by the Head Executive Board, we were unable to reach an agreement with PAC Branch 22, regarding the Branch’s takeover of the administration of Place Polonaise.”

Increasing maintenance costs of such a large building required a lot of effort, so it is not unusual that subsequent Place Polonaise administrations were unable to resolve growing problems, regardless of their enormous involvement and good will. This led to mutual complaints and blame from all sides and to unlucky decisions made by subsequent PAC Head Executive Boards: first, to sell a part of the property to cover continuous expenses; later, to take on more loans; and finally, to rent the location out to companies that were also unable to carry the load of the building’s maintenance.

Cooperation between the PAC Head Executive Board and PAC Branch 22 became increasingly difficult, gradually disappeared, and transformed into a mere escalation of opinions, slander and plain human jealousy.

Disbanding PAC Branch 22 at the PAC General Assembly in Barrie was a desperate and incompletely considered step, so the most recent Head Executive Board made the brave decision to reactivate it, hoping that the “hand extended to agreement will be received.” Unfortunately, the opposite happened, and a carousel of judgments began moving again; only lawyers will benefit from it.

Place Polonaise – the pride of the Polish community and a place that captivates everyone with its beautiful setting – was put up for sale in the year of the PAC’s Centennial Jubilee. Merciless economic laws and cold calculations of the building’s maintenance costs defeated noble mottos that were proclaimed but not backed by charitable, ant-like volunteer work, exemplified by great Alliance members and visionaries, like President Tadeusz Glista or PAC Branch 22’s President Czeslaw Kowalik, who dreamt of The Polish Alliance of Canada’s might.