Lumberyard Arts Center
So, what does a lumber yard have to do with square dancing? Lots, that is if the lumber yard happens to be the former Ives-Hartley Lumber Co. of Baldwin City . . . and you are the contractor for refurbishing the building, or are the President of the Lumberyard Arts Center . . . and you are Jim & Diane Niehoff of the Ottawa Promenaders.
Rosalee and I recently drove down to Baldwin City to view their beautiful tree color. After a tour of the city we decided to stop off at Hickory Creek Barbeque for lunch. While enjoying our meal, we noticed Jim Niehoff drive up to a building across the street, followed shortly by Diane. They appeared to be doing some kind of work on the inside, so we decided to go over and check things out. I just happened to have the camera . . .
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View of the former Ives-Hartley Lumber Co. from High Street.
Jim & Diane were as surprised to see us as we were to find them busy working on the building. Jim has logged over 1500 volunteer hours just since receiving the building permit in April 2009. Diane and other volunteers have each logged over 1000 hours. The room behind them will be an Art Gallery.
View toward High Street. Room to far right will be the new office for Baldwin City Chamber of Commerce, while rooms on left will be an arts learning center.
Jim & Diane describe the arts learning center room, which will be one or two rooms via a folding divider. They both have been involved in the project from the very beginning - Diane as Chair of Management Committee and Jim as Chair of Construction Committee, and serves as Contractor.
View toward unfinished area (Phase 2) which will be a community theater. Large bathrooms are on right, street-level entrance on left, via steps and ramp.
Much of the original wood from the building has been reused. Trim pieces were removed, stripped of several layers of paint, repaired, refinished, and reinstalled. Diane specializes in stripping, sanding, painting, clean-up, clean-up, clean-up.
Jim describes some features of the old building he was able to retain, including the rafters and windows (replaced with thermal-panes). The Association plans to raise additional building funds by inscribing donors' names on the row of bricks.
The mezzanine area is not intended for pedestrians but will be used for displays. That area was originally for lumber storage as can be seen in photos below of the unfinished north half of the building.
Entrance from Ninth Street. Brick area immediately inside the doors is planned to be replaced with granite blocks with donors' inscribed names. The outside area will a brick patio (brick laying is another of Jim's newly-acquired skills). [Ed. note: Jim has since finished the brick patio.]
North, unfinished area showing depth of poured concrete to raise floor. Floor was originally gravel.
This is what the South area looked like in April 2009. Lumber was stored on each side of building, trucks (or wagons) would enter from High Street, drive through the building while workers loaded the customers' lumber, then exit into alley on North end of building. Gary Sanden, a member of Happy Time Squares, has been an avid volunteer and has logged 126 hours just since the renovation began in April 2009.
Jim described how one could turn a crank that would open all windows for ventilation. The modern system will be, of course, HVAC.
Building plans showing Phase 1 (left), which is nearing completion, and Phase 2 (right), which will be the theater.
Project progress graphs. At the time of this photo $270,000 has been raised for Phase 1, which has a budget of $420,000. The project was initially bid at $1.2 million but due to volunteer effort, was substantially reduced.
These are the hugh bi-fold doors through which trucks would drive to interior of building. Here Jim is doing a bit of adjusting.
Front of building is brick while the rear is neat block-patterned tin.
View of tin siding. Shutters indicate completed area while windows are in the future remodel.
View of new Lumberyard Arts Center from High Street. Chamber of Commerce office is on left, Arts Learning Center on right.
On June 18, 2003 a group held a meeting to measure community interest in saving the recently closed Lumberyard in the heart of our downtown from the "wrecking ball". After nearly 90 years in business, the doors had been closed, an auction held to dispose of most of the contents and there was talk of building an office building in its place.Sixty-four members of the community turned out for the meeting and expressed their willingness to support the efforts to establish a community arts center in the former Lumberyard building.
Committees were formed from attendees at that initial meeting and the work began to develop plans and raise the necessary funds for the project.
A mission statement was formed from that initial invitation to the community:
- To Preserve a local landmark, offering our community a unique gathering place for cultural, educational and social use;
- To Promote a better understanding and appreciation for the visual, performing, literary and heritage arts;
- To Create a sense of community ownership through the renovation process;
- To Contribute to the revitalization of downtown Baldwin City.
The founders of the Lumberyard Arts Center Project believe an arts center, with musical and comedy performances, exhibits, drama productions, classes and workshops in all areas of the arts, will provide a quality of life enhancement for Baldwin community residents of all ages, in an accessible, familiar and friendly location.
It is the intention of the Lumberyard Arts Center Project to keep the character of the existing building's period architecture, but to increase the structural intergrity of the building while adapting it for the uses planned. It can provide a unique gathering place for community meetings and be a destination and an additional attraction for visitors to the area.
Jim and Diane have been involved in the project from the very beginning. At the community meeting, committees were formed to begin exploring the possibilities. Diane was appointed chair of the management committee and Jim chair of the construction committee.
At that initial meeting Diane attended as a board member of the Baldwin Community Arts Council and shortly there after elected to serve as treasurer of that organization. She is currently serving in that same capacity. The Arts Council has been a generous financial supporter of the project from the very beginning. Several members of the Arts Council have served on the board of directors of the Arts Center. Even though goals and missions are very closely related, the Community Arts Council and the Lumberyard Arts Center are two separate entities. In addition to serving as treasurer of the Arts Council, Diane also currently serves as president of the Lumberyard Arts Center.
As the group began to form plans for renovation of the building, they contacted the architecture department at K-State and worked with a class of 13 students, each submitting their individual plans and models as their semester project in the spring of 2004. From those plans, they adapted our "dream plans" and took them to Paul Werner Associates architects. Jim's many years in the building industry and his working relationship with Paul were instrumental in getting a very, very good price for professional plans. In addition, Paul continues to support the project with his professional services as well as financially. Once official plans were in hand, Jim began the process of securing bids from four well-known area contractors, and after averaging the bids, came up with a figure of 1.2 million dollars for the project.
For the next five years the group struggled to raise the necessary funds and attempted to hold classes and fund raisers in the deplorable condition of the building. It was decided to divide the project into two phases in order to make classroom space, a clean kitchen and modern restrooms available sooner. This brought the estimated cost of Phase I down to $610,400. Jim volunteered to serve as general contractor for the project which allowed us to deduct another $47,000 for the contractor fee and another $40,000 for a site supervisor fee. The average of $70,600 for contingency fee in the original bid helped to cover the addition of $40,000 for a sprinkler system that was not originally figured.