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EXCHANGE: Fundraisers planned to help renovate hall

DEKALB, Ill. (AP) - Diane Rodgers believes in love at first sight. She first saw the Majakka Finnish Temperance Hall by accident, while taking a walk in the area in 2011, and she immediately fell in love with the building.

Rodgers said that after she discovered the old building she wanted to know how she could restore the hall to its former glory.

Rodgers is the founder of the DeKalb Finnish Social History Project, which aims to document Finnish history in DeKalb and to historically preserve and restore the Majakka Finnish Temperance Hall, now the DeKalb Area Women's Center.

Rodgers also is a sociology professor at Northern Illinois University. As part of the DeKalb Finnish Social History Project, Rodgers and her students have interviewed local people of Finnish descent and helped them research their ancestry.

She said the community "has been amazingly helpful in assisting us with understanding the complex history of the Finnish and other immigrants in DeKalb."

Rodgers has written and received grants from Landmarks Illinois and DeKalb County Community Foundation for past restoration funding. Individual donors and groups, including Finlandia Foundation Midwest Chapter, also have contributed to restoration efforts on the building. It's name "Majakka" means "lighthouse" in Finnish.

Rodgers is now organizing fundraisers specifically for window restoration on the front of the building. About $34,000 is needed to historically repair and restore the building's front windows with storm windows that adhere to preservation criteria. The large set of windows on the side of the building will cost about $60,000. The building's original cedar siding also needs to be scraped and painted by a company experienced in working with historic buildings.

"Although the building needs two large restoration tasks, these improvements will make a big difference and last a very long time," Rodgers said. "With some cosmetic touches and restoration, the building will be a tourist destination. People will want to host parties and weddings there. The building is full of Finnish and DeKalb history."

Fundraisers have been held to help raise money for the building's historical restoration, including a contest to draw or paint DAWC after historic restoration and painting parties.

Upcoming fundraisers include three additional painting parties, a silent auction with wine and cheese available for purchase and the creation of a women's business directory. All proceeds will benefit the restoration of the DeKalb Area Women's Center historic building.

The Majakka Finnish Temperance Hall's cornerstone was laid in 1917, and the building, built by Finnish workers, was completed and dedicated in 1918.

The building was used by the Majakka Temperance Society for activities such as meetings, plays, dances, band and choir performances and gymnastics. The temperance society also sponsored a lending library in the hall's balcony and a cafeteria for workers of nearby factories in the basement.

To Rodgers, part of the importance of the building is its ties to DeKalb's barbed wire history. The workers who made the barbed wire lived in DeKalb's Third Ward, which also was known as Finn Town.

"It is one of a handful of Finnish temperance halls left in the United States," Rodgers said. "What makes the building special is that it is still used for its original purpose. It was built in 1917 as a community center and it is currently a space that the community can use."

The DeKalb Finnish Social History Project hopes to get the building on the National Register of Historic Places. In 2013, through a report written by the project, the DeKalb City Council granted the building local landmark status.

In addition to housing DAWC programs and events, the building also houses items from local Finnish families, including sleds and spinning wheels.

"The center has become the de facto Finnish museum for the county," Anna Marie Coveny, director of DAWC, said. "People saw that we were taking care of the building and they started to donate artifacts."

The preservation and restoration of the Majakka Finnish Temperance Hall began when DAWC purchased the building in 1994. The great hall floor was restored to its original luster and old theater lights were replaced around the theater frame. In 2006, the building's chimney was destroyed by a storm and was restored with new bricks identical to the building's foundation.

To prevent flooding and water damage to the building, a gutter system was created on the building's east side in October 2014. On the west side, a vegetated depression and rain garden were created as a green solution to storm water runoff.

"The rain garden, which is planted with native prairie plants, helps with flooding, naturally cleans the water and provides attractive plants for butterflies and birds," Coveny said.

In March 2015, stabilization efforts continued to prevent further rain leaking through the deteriorated wooden planking of the building's entrance threshold, which had caused water damage to the basement office and hallway. Plaster and framing work were needed to repair the basement office and a new entranceway threshold was installed.

The community also has been involved with the building's regular maintenance needs. More than 50 NIU students and the university's president volunteered at DAWC during this year's NIU Cares Day. Volunteers also will help with the upkeep of the building during Kishwaukee United Way's Day of Caring on June 16.

"People talk about a sense of place," Coveny said. "I believe that that's what is important about our building. It stands as a monument, a lighthouse, to that part of DeKalb history, of the Finnish settlers, workers and their values. It's definitely worth saving to show where we've been and who we are."

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Source: The (DeKalb) Daily Chronicle, http://bit.ly/29u4sFB

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