TOWER- While it may seem to many that the project is moving at a snail’s pace, the renovations at the Lake Vermilion Cultural Center are almost ready to blossom as the building readies itself to become a centerpiece on Tower’s Main Street.

“Nobody believed this would happen,” said LVCC Chairman Mary Batinich. “It made it hard to raise money at first. But now it is going forward, bit by bit, and we are starting to raise money again.”

“The generosity of many people is making this possible,” she said.

The project, which involves a forward-thinking plan to repurpose the historic St. Mary’s Episcopal Church building into a community cultural center involved several rather imposing steps, all of which involved significant fundraising.

Initial planning included setting up a non-profit organization to design and run the new center, drafting plans for the multi-purpose building, securing ownership of the church building (which was gifted to the group by the Episcopal Church in Minnesota), moving the 125-plus year old structure onto a new foundation at the opposite end of town at the entrance of Main Street (in the fall of 2015), and now, finally, erecting the exterior of the new cultural center. Along the way the group funded and built a secondary building on the site, a carriage house which is currently storing the church’s interior furniture, as well as serving as a work space.

The finished building will more than triple the floor area of the original church, along with a full basement that will house a kitchen, classroom and performing areas.

By December, the exterior walls and roof for the Halunen Lobby were completed and made safe from the weather. The walls and rafters for the Abrahamson Gallery (which serves to tie the new portion of the building to the church) are also up, and that portion of the building will be enclosed as soon as weather permits.

“Now we start working on the interior of St. Mary’s Hall and the new lobby,” said LVCC Chairman Mary Batinich. This work will also include construction needed for the Batinich Balcony, which will add seating capacity to St. Mary’s Hall, along with the installation of the heating and air handling systems.

While the building is not recognized on the National Historic Register, because it has been moved from its original site, the LVCC board is doing its best to restore the building as authentically as possible to the late 1880s Victorian-era style in which it was constructed. The building’s distinctive fishtail shakes will be replaced with brand-new hand-cut shakes created by H & B Ltd. of Ely, the same firm that has been restoring the 17 antique stained glass windows from the original church. The windows will be reinstalled in the St. Mary’s Hall portion of the building once the interior work is completed. The cost of restoring the windows has been underwritten by benefactors, many of whom have a family connection to the old church.

This spring, the LVCC board is planning a weekend workday in early May, and will be looking for volunteers to come with hammers and crowbars to remove all the old fishtail siding. Another group of volunteers will be needed to paint the new siding and shakes, which will then be installed on the exterior of the building.

The color scheme for the new building will be the same as the new carriage house, which already has its exterior completed.

The LVCC board meets in February to work on new grant applications and plan the upcoming Midsummer Festival on June 17, the group’s annual fundraiser. This year’s theme will be “Broadway.” The event includes a catered meal, drinks, music and dancing, along with silent and live auction fundraisers. The performance will include local choir members along with singers from the Twin Cities. Anyone interested in participating in the chorus can email vermilionculturalcenter@gmail.com for more information.

Fundraising will be the group’s next largest challenge. The board is looking for grant funding to underwrite the cost of an elevator, to make the building handicap-accessible. In some ways, Batinich said, the group’s success with private fundraisers appears to have made it harder to find grant-funding for some of the project, such as the elevator, which is harder to privately-fund.

The group recently received a $10,000 anonymous donation that helped pay for the exterior building work needed to keep the building protected over the winter. A $25,000 matching challenge grant has been promised, so Batinich said the group will be working to raise another $25,000 to make the match, so that this funding is available to complete the interior renovations.

There are still naming opportunities available for portions of the new building, and more information is available by calling Batinich at 612-360-7079.

An open house will be held this summer, so the public can tour the interior of the building and see how much progress has been made.

You can learn more about the project, and information on donating or volunteering, by visiting www.vermilionculturalcenter.org.