YATES CENTER — There aren’t many buildings that have their own lazy river as one of its hidden features.
Of course, there aren’t many buildings like Yates Center’s Town Hall.
And now, armed with a $50,000 grant, the lazy river — source of flooded basements aplenty through the years — should be a thing of the past.
The non-profit community center, owned by local residents Michael McCullough and his wife, Janet Brilke, will undergo an ambitious waterproofing endeavor, courtesy of a $50,000 grant from T-Mobile.
McCullough and Brilke learned earlier this month their grant application was successful.
McCullough, a technology teacher at Yates Center High School, is eager to get started on the work.
“We’ve really had the support of the entire town,” he said.
THE TOWN HALL, site of Yates Center’s former Christian Church at 201 S. Main St., became a community center in 2017, when McCullough and Brilke stepped forward to take over the building in order to save it from being demolished.
And while the basement meeting area is available for meetings, parties and other get-togethers, its primary focus is its business wing.
A series of rooms have become prime incubator spots for entrepreneurs hoping to
get their fledgling businesses off the ground.
But with all the Town Hall’s charm and appeal, it has a problem.
“Our building floods,” McCullough said.
Actually, it probably always has since it was built in 1904.
At some point when it was still a church, members discovered the source of the problem, an underground spring that feeds through an unfinished portion of the basement.
They dealt with the problem with a bit of inspiration and plenty of perspiration.
“Somebody just chiseled a trench into the bedrock, to feed the water into a sump pump hole,” McCullough said.
And sure, during wet spells, the water would occasionally spill onto the floor,
“But we have so many 7-inch rains now, that the basement really floods,” McCullough said.
The problem came into full focus in the spring when a power failure brought on by a severe thunderstorm shut down the sump pump and covered the entire basement floor with 2 inches of water.
So McCullough, a skilled carpenter, ripped out the carpet and replaced it with special vinyl flooring, the kind that can be cleaned up, dried off, and reassembled.
Crews also discovered that outside the building a pair of stormwater drains were improperly designed, feeding the runoff into the building’s septic system.
That, too, was corrected, paid for through community fundraisers.
JUST as things were looking up, Mother Nature struck again.
McCullough was about halfway through with the new floor installation when another round of severe storms came through this summer, again cutting power to the sump pump, and again sending water gushing into the basement
“When we opened the door, we could hear the water lapping up against the stairs,” he recalled.
The good news was the vinyl flooring worked as it was designed. McCullough was able to clear out the water, clean and dry the tiles and reaffix them.
“But I thought, ‘We can’t keep doing this,’” he said.
THAT’S when word of the T-Mobile Hometown Grant program came to Yates Center.
As the company’s press release notes, the grant program — available to 25 communities nationwide — was put in place “to help local communities move forward on projects that build on the strengths that have always made them great places to live and work. Hometown Grants are inspired by the unique sense of place and deep pride that is so much a part of every small town.”
Sound familiar?
With unanimous backing and support from the community, McCullough and Brilke applied for the grant earlier this year.
The astonishing part was the response they received.
While each community could apply for up to $50,000, McCullough was conservative in estimating the Town Hall’s needs.
He had reached out to various companies that deal with waterproofing to get accurate estimates, then forwarded those numbers with his application.
That covered pretty much all he could think of.
He would have a company dig a trench all the way around the building, put in a new, more powerful sump pump with battery backup to kick on in case of a power outage, and a few other improvements.
T Mobile’s response?
The $38,000 request was too low.
“They said all these other places were pushing it to the limit, shoving everything in it to get it to $50,000,” McCullough said.
So they had a question.
“After this project is done, what else do you need?”
Jaws dropped.
McCullough and Brilke quickly agreed the downstairs kitchen also was due for a major upgrade.
The appliances and countertops are old. The hot water tank — also in the basement — was rusted and inefficient. One of the basement air conditioners also was on its last legs.
So that was also added to the application.
And accepted.
MCCULLOUGH hopes to act quickly.
While they have a ceremonial $50,000 cardboard check to use for photo ops, “we haven’t gotten the real check yet,” he chuckled.
Once that arrives, he’ll reach back out to the trenching and electric companies to get work underway.
“We really want to get it done by April,” he said. “March would be even better. That would be ideal. But without the money, I don’t want to contact them yet. Then, we’re just on their schedule.”
THE TOWN HALL is blessed with a variety of factors that keep it a self-sustaining facility, McCullough noted.
The businesses — Red Sock Studio, Natural Pathways, Allen County Chiropractic, Pop Culture Hair, Town Hall Tea and Mockingbird Baskets, Monarch and Hope Unlimited — pay enough in rent to nearly cover the building’s utilities each month, he noted.
But even when utility bills are high from extreme cold or heat, the facility has an ace in the hole.
That’s because Brilke and McCullough converted the next door building, the church’s former parsonage, into the Town Hall Flea Market.
“All profits there go into the building,” McCullough noted. “In fact, we have the same business account for both. People who buy anything at the flea market just make their checks out to the Town Hall.”
And because the merchandise sells so quickly, regulars can stop by repeatedly, knowing there will be new wares on the shelves.
“Part of what helps us out is we have no paid employees,” McCullough said. “None of us make any money with Town Hall. Even the flea market employees are volunteers. That helps with the eyes of the community. It’s not like anybody is banking off the donations. It all just goes into maintaining the building, and to help these business incubators.”
Ah, yes. The incubators.
Since its opening, Town Hall has had two businesses thrive enough that the owners needed to find permanent locations elsewhere.
“That’s what we want,” he said. “We want them to start up here, then expand. If you’re starting off, you don’t want to have $300 rent and then $200 monthly utilities. You’re not going to make it.”
The nominal rent each business pays includes utilities, McCullough noted.
THAT THE grant announcement came this time of year adds special significance.
The community room has been used for various holiday activities. The T Mobile grant was celebrated with an open house last week.
Other parties and activities are planned as well. “We have events hopping all the time,” McCullough said.
It’s a special time for a special building.
Lazy river and all.
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