Old hall getting a major makeover
LOREN BENOIT/Press The Meadow Brook Community Hall in Cougar Gulch is being restored. The 100-year-old building — once a one-room schoolhouse and farmers cooperative hall — is used for weddings, 4-H meetings, potlucks, dances and voting.
Volunteers Chad Cross, left, and Andy Loukusa help re-side the century-old Meadow Brook Community Hall south of Coeur d’Alene on Friday. An anonymous donor contributed $45,000 to allow construction to begin.
Andy Loukusa removes old siding from Meadow Brook Community Hall on Friday. (LOREN BENOIT/Press)
The 1912 Farmers and Educational and Co-operative Union of America charter that dissolved in 1968 is hung inside the Meadow Brook Community Hall. (BRIAN WALKER/Press)
The Meadow Brook Community Hall, once a one-room schoolhouse that was built in 1904, includes a gathering area with a barn-style ceiling, stage and kitchen. The front part of the hall, shown here, was added on in 1930. The building can hold 80 people. (BRIAN WALKER/Press)
By BRIAN WALKER
Staff Writer
A historic community hall that has withstood the test of time is getting new life thanks to an anonymous $45,000 donation.
The current restoration of the century-old Meadow Brook Community Hall in Cougar Gulch was sparked by a gift from a longtime resident of that area.
"We're finally able to give this wonderful community center an uplift for the next 100 years," said Julie Schmidt, a member of the nonprofit board dedicated to preserving the center.
Volunteers have spent the past three years raising $6,600 during several fundraisers, but the restoration was jumpstarted by the recent donation. They hope the bulk of the project will be completed by the end of the year.
"(The donor) has always come here to vote and for our French dinners," said Courtney Beebe, treasurer. "He wanted to do something for the community. We wouldn't have been able to do this without him."
Schmidt said the donor offered to pay about 80 percent of the construction cost, so volunteers are still looking to raise about $10,000 to sew it up.
"We still don't have enough money for the windows and doors," Schmidt said.
The hall, off U.S. 95 just south of Coeur d'Alene, is also known as the Sam Rodius Memorial Park Association. It’s been used by the Cougar Gulch, Meadow Brook and Greens Ferry neighborhoods for dances, farmers gatherings and 4-H meetings, receptions, weddings, concerts, reunions and potlucks.
"It's not a part of the Grange and it's never been a church, but it was almost a tavern," Beebe said.
Part of the hall was a one-room school built in 1904. It was moved to the current site in 1912.
The front part of the hall was added on in 1930. The building can hold 80 people. It includes a gathering area with a barn-style ceiling, stage, kitchen and restrooms.
"We do have running water, but we can't drink it," Beebe said.
The 1912 Farmers and Educational and Co-operative Union of America charter hangs inside the hall.
Schmidt said volunteers looked into listing the building on the National Register of Historic Places, but deemed the costs prohibitive.
"The requirements are so strict," she said.
Improvements have been made to the building along the way, but the current restoration effort includes addressing water runoff issues, new siding and insulation.
Becky Karvonen, a member of the group and owner of Mountain Dove Construction, is the contractor.
Schmidt said the preservation is a "labor of love" because she knows such halls are rare.
"When I grew up, we didn't have this kind of community center to depend on," she said.
Beebe said it's neat to see preservation of the historic building that has brought the community together for decades.
"We live on larger lots out here and are acres away from our neighbors, so this is the only way many of us have gotten to know each other," she said. "This is a way for us to get together and that's why this has stood for so long."
For more information or to support the group’s efforts, visit: www.cougargulchcommunity.com.
Tax-deductible donations can also be made at: www.gofundme.com/MeadowbrookHall.