YATES CENTER — After cramming years worth of renovations into a few weeks, Mike McCullough and wife Janet Brilke will see their dream come to fruition Sunday.
McCullough and Brilke have overseen the conversion of the old Yates Center Christian Church into The Town Hall, a non-profit community center.
The church, which closed earlier this year, has been converted into a community center filled with meeting rooms large and small; a spacious art gallery adorned with stained glass windows and Victorian-style woodwork; rooms for startup, home-based businesses; a full-sized kitchen and dining area for community meals; and the church’s old sanctuary, still perfectly suitable for weddings, funerals, public performances and other special events.
Brilke and McCullough envision classes on knitting, cooking and pottery, as well as tutoring sessions, book study clubs and youth meetings for 4-H and Scouting. At least two groups already have reserved space for Christmas dinners.
Works of art from local youths will be among the first pieces to adorn the art gallery.
SUNDAY’S grand opening celebration kicks off at 3 p.m. with tours and class information and the unveiling of the art gallery.
A pie auction begins at 5 o’clock, as does a chili and soup supper.
Proceeds will go toward the center’s upkeep and operations.
As Brilke notes, the end of Sunday’s celebration marks the start of an even tougher task — keeping the building afloat.
BRILKE AND McCullough agreed to step forward earlier this year after learning the church, which had been around for more than a century, was going to close.
After members of the congregation voted to disband due to dwindling numbers, they had until Oct. 30 to decide on one of two options: find a non-profit group to whom the building could be donated; or tear it down.
McCullough, a skilled carpenter who had been hired to do various projects to the building through the years, told his wife about the looming demolition.
“They tried to give it to the city, but that didn’t work,” Brilke said. “They even talked to a local guy about tearing it down, and he said no, he wouldn’t do it.”
With no local groups willing to accept the building, they would have to hire an out-of-town contractor to tear down the building.
“The trustees were so upset it was coming to that,” Brilke said, explaining that the demolition likely would include dismantling the church piece by piece, and the stained glass windows and woodwork removed and sold.
Up stepped McCullough and Brilke, both of whom grew up in Yates Center.
Both were well familiar with the Christian Church, considered a sister church of Yates Center’s Methodist Church, which they attend. The two had even attended Bible School sessions as youths at the Christian Church.
“It wasn’t a hard decision at all,” Brilke said. “Mike and I just said, why not try to get a non-profit going, and see what happens.”
The remaining church members were unanimous in approving the donation.
“One lady said, ‘Oh, good, I can still have my funeral there after all,’” Brilke chuckled. “I said, ‘Yes, you can.’ Whatever anybody needs, we’ll try to fill that need.”
But filling that need also meant moving quickly.
They had until Oct. 30 to get The Town Hall certification going in order to take ownership, before the old insurance policy on the building lapsed.
They did so (with two weeks to spare) and officially took over Oct. 15, but McCullough and Brilke still must complete mounds of paperwork in order for the Town Hall to be considered a certified 501(c) 3 organization.
THE HEAVY lifting starts now.
The rental fees the couple receives from the start-up businesses — a photography studio, massage therapist and an outlet that converts old videotapes to CDs — won’t be nearly enough to pay the bills.
“Needless to say, we need lots of donations,” she said.
And that’s not even talking the potential tens of thousands Brilke and McCullough will have to pay in property taxes each year if the non-profit certification falls through.
The couple is researching grant writers to find enough other funding sources to keep the center going.
“It’s just hard to get it all done in a day,” said Brilke, who also teaches a preschool class for Yates Center USD 366.
BRILKE has heard from a few folks in Iola and Allen County.
“We talked to the lady from Humanity House (Tracy Keagle), and she’s encouraged us to get grants,” she said.
Brilke and McCullough also agreed to open their doors to Hope Unlimited, which has been looking for a venue in Yates Center to interview clients and for other support group sessions.
Brilke’s sister, Karen Jesseph, who teaches music at Iola Middle School, and Kelci Maier, a secretary at IMS, are preparing tea and pies for Sunday’s gala. They also plan to host future tea parties and other get-togethers.
The response in and around Yates Center has been encouraging.
Brilke noted each of the rooms in the old church has been accounted for in some capacity, ensuring activities will fill the facility on a nearly daily basis.
Several of the church’s former members also will be on hand to assist with Sunday’s activities.
“It’s sad to see a church go for that long and then have to close,” Brilke said, noting the Christian Church had celebrated its 100-year anniversary in 2004. “But we’re happy to try to keep this building going. I hope it works. It’s something the community needs, so why not try it? Everything has fallen into place so far. We just pray we can finish the paperwork and keep it open.”
PHOTOS: The now-defunct Yates Center Christian Church, above, has been converted into The Town Hall, a community center operated by Mike McCullough and his wife, Janet Brilke, lower left. Among the new activities is a massage therapy room, shown at lower right.
