At first nobody knew where the films had come from, but eventually it was learned that these were considered "end of the line" films that had finished their southern run and were sent to Dawson for the Athletic Association to show. Since it was expensive to ship the unwanted movies back to the distributors, the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce agreed to store them in the basement of the Carnegie Library Building.
In 1929, the collection became too large for the library. At about the same time, the Athletic Association decided to fill-in its problem-plagued swimming pool. A bank employee, who also was the Athletic Association's hockey treasurer, thought it practical to use the unwanted films as part of the fill.
