Around 1965-70 the organizations that owned the St. Luke & Odd Fellows Hall had lost membership and were no longer meeting regularly. Two reasons for the decline in membership were that mutual aid societies were no longer important as social legislation such as social security met the need. Also, the popularity of mutual aid societies as well as high ritualized declined. The two together along with road construction greatly reduced the appeal of New Town as a neighborhood; gradually the housed began to deteriorate and young people moved where they could find more and better employment.
