This is changing, though, thanks to a nearly $1 million renovation that honors the building’s history, character, and deep sense of place, while making the space relevant to today’s needs.

“We took a building nobody remembers and added the wow factor with coffered ceilings, hand-painted ceiling medallions, huge Swarovski crystal chandeliers, a balcony overlooking the ballroom, and a beautiful fireplace and bar,” said Tami Green, of Lake City, a leading supporter of the Community Memorial Building revitalization project. “Renting this event space will bring people to town and promote economic development.”

Not only is the building located on the northeast corner near Lake City’s historic town square, but it provides a unique venue for wedding receptions, meetings and other gatherings.

“This is truly an event center,” said Dwight Dial, a Lake City-area farmer who helped spearhead fundraising efforts to renovate the building, which will include a museum on the second floor to honor the community’s military history.

-Messenger file photo
A program from the Lake City Community Memorial Building rededication ceremony, held in November 2021, is shown here.

It could have been easy to let this potential slip away. About 20 years ago, some residents suggested “that ugly old building” should be torn down and replaced with a metal building. Time and haphazard modifications all took a toll. Ceilings were lowered in the 1970s during the energy crisis, creating a dark, dismal interior space. The stage in the main room was removed at one point. Warnings were even displayed on the walls, urging people not to stand on the tables.

“The building was living on borrowed time,” Dial said. “It couldn’t have continued much longer without a major investment.'”

It was a troubling situation for a building that received national press coverage when it was dedicated on Armistice Day 1920 as a memorial to local service members.

“The interior of the building had been poorly remodeled and decorated over the last 50 years,” said Paul Iverson, a master craftsman and owner of God’s Wood in Lake City. “It was no longer a proud tribute to the veterans and had become a low-end meeting place for community events. It was a barely functional building and had become a dumping ground for all sorts of unnecessary things.”

Iverson and another local businessman, Patrick Vanderheiden of Lake City Flowers, began talking about how much potential the Community Memorial Building could offer with some strategic renovations to the interior. Around 2017, they began sharing their vision for the building with members of Lake City’s City Council.

Green, who was a member of the council at the time, knew they were on the right track.

“I could see how this could promote tourism and be a good thing for Lake City,” she said.

Iverson drew up plans to revitalize the building and make it more functional.

“I’m amazed by the craftsmanship of this building,” he said.

Women helped create

Community Memorial Building

The building’s exterior remains almost unchanged from 1920, when it was built to honor soldiers, sailors and Marines who served in World War I, as well as the Spanish-American War and the Civil War. The building’s history is intertwined with the Lake City Civic Improvement Society (LCCIS), which was founded by local women in 1914.

With a membership of nearly 250 of “the most progressive and representative women from all churches, clubs, lodges and businesses,” according to a local newspaper article, the LCCIS raised money to purchase a lot at the corner of Washington and Illinois streets for $1,750. (That’s more than $28,000 in 2022 dollars.) These dynamic women continued to raise money and donated $1,000 (more than $16,000 in 2022 dollars) to help build the Community Memorial Building.

“That the dead not be forgotten, and that the living be honored, was the purpose of this memorial,” noted the LCCIS’ archives. “Not cold, gray marble shafts, but a place where all may meet and enjoy the blessings saved for us by the boys in blue and khaki.”

The LCCIS also worked with the building committee that hired Proudfoot, Bird & Rawson, a Des Moines-based architectural firm, to design the building, and Des Moines-based Neumann Brothers to construct the building. “The foresight of those women was phenomenal,” Dial said.

Where there is no vision, the people perish

After getting approval from the City Council to move forward with renovations, Iverson and a small committee of community leaders went to work on the Community Memorial Building, which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.

“We wanted to honor this building’s heritage and take it far beyond its original potential,” said Iverson, who received the Preservation Champion Award from Central School Preservation in Lake City in 2019.

Funding for the $950,000 project included $650,000 from a local option sales tax, and more than $300,000 in donations received from community members and other project supporters.

Starting in 2020, Iverson devoted most of his time to tackle the first phase of the substantial project. He designed and installed coffered ceilings above the first-floor banquet hall, complete with four, 52-inch-tall crystal chandeliers. Decorative 10-foot-tall colonnades with a faux marble finish accent the stately, new, 12-foot-tall windows that lend a lofty feel to the ballroom.

Laurie Blum, an interior designer from Arcadia, painted the ballroom’s ceiling medallions with a Midwestern motif of clouds and blue sky. Blum also recommended modern color contrasts of black and gold for the majestic fireplace Iverson designed for the lobby and the spacious, mirrored bar at the back of the ballroom.

As the project moved forward, a small but vocal group of naysayers spread misinformation and opposed the project, but supporters persevered.

“Faith kept us going,” Dial said.

While the Community Memorial Building committee members thought they might be able to raise $100,000, some project supporters challenged them to think bigger.

“We reached and exceeded our $300,000 fundraising goal in four months, thanks to donors’ support,” Green said. “We received many letters of thanks from people who were so grateful to see this project become a reality.”

The public got their first view of the remarkable transformation in November 2021, when the building committee hosted a Veteran’s Day program on Nov. 11 and celebrated with a gala on the evening of Nov. 13.

“I was so honored to have been chosen to finalize the design and do the work to restore this grand old building,” Iverson said. “It’s the highlight of my career.”

Iverson also thinks of Proverbs 29:18: “Where there is no vision, the people perish.”

“The work that has been accomplished in the past couple years is a great first step in securing the future of Lake City,” he said.

Supporting a sustainable future

For historic preservation to remain relevant and sustainable, it must not only reflect the past; it must remain relevant for the future. The Community Memorial Building can be rented for wedding receptions, meetings and other events. This will generate income for the City of Lake City and provide financial resources that can be invested into the local community.

“This building has worn so many different hats during its history,” Green said. “As it serves the community for another 100 years, it’s taking on a new role as an event center that will bring money into the community.”

This opportunity hearkens back to timeless wisdom in the article “Community Building: A Great Necessity,” which appeared in the May 1, 1919, edition of the Lake City Graphic newspaper: “The difference between success and failure is often a difference in vision. To accomplish any material thing, an insight into the future is essential. A people must have a vision to gain inspiration. Communities grow in proportion to their vision.”

For more information about the Lake City Community Memorial Building, contact Jayme Quirk, events manager, at 712-830-0850.