In
the winter of 2002 the Walker/Hackensack/Akeley school district
requested bids for the purchase of the old Akeley school building.
Chris Conger was awarded the bid for his unheard of bid of $3. There
were other bids but they were to demolish the building or to make
apartments or other things that would not have preserved the building as
it was. The board determined that it was most important to maintain the
building as a community center as Mr. Conger proposed.
On
August 31, 2006, Mr. Conger signed over the ARCC to a 6-8 member board.
The current board consists of Chairman - Larry Holm, Vice Chairman - Karen
Andress, Secretary -
LoAnn Cox, Treasurer - Elmer Tinklenberg, members at large - Greg
Mueller and Bryan Cox.
The
whole complex is now incorporated as a non-profit organization and the
building houses the Corner Clothing Store, the Corner Furniture Store, a
US Geological Service office, Rebecca Lee’s
Heart In The Pines Publishing, a public library, the Paul Bunyan Archery
Club, public meeting rooms available to rent or use depending on whether
non-profit or for profit, and of course two gymnasiums. There are also
spaces to rent for offices and hopefully in the near future apartments
for rent.
The
Corner Clothing store came into being in August of 2003 when Ruth Spicer
endeavored to open a used clothing store that would both benefit the
area by providing good used clothing and helping to pay the fuel bill at
the ARCC. The first day’s sales totaled $13 and the largest days sale to
date is $701.00. All workers at the clothing store are unpaid
volunteers. The Furniture Store was added in 2006. Any good, useable,
workable, saleable items may be donated.
A
new side of the Furniture store is to accept items on consignment.
Anyone who has craft items or something else to sell may contact Larry
or Karen for information. An 80/20 split will be taken. We retain the
right to refuse the sale of any object. Taxes will be added and paid
by the ARCC.
For
Rent
At
this time there are still areas that may be rented for businesses. All
of them come with utilities paid. One of these is a 13’x20’ (260 sq ft)
foot room with a shared commons area for $250/mo. Two other rooms are
available and have their own bathroom (sink, stool and shower). They
are 10’ x 11’ plus bathroom and will rent for $150/mo.
Projects
Heating:
The
most important and current project at the ARCC is to get an affordable
heating system in place.
1908
Roof:
The
next important thing is to get the 1908 portion of the building roofed.
An appeal is out for donations to this project as it is estimated it
will cost $26,000.
When
these two projects are done, there are many others waiting in the wings.
Fund
Raisers
Contributions are always welcome and needed at the ARCC for ongoing
expenses, maintenance and improvements. A lot of stuff was destroyed or
damaged when the Walker School moved out and must be repaired or
replaced. At this time donations of articles to be sold at the
Furniture store are welcome as well as good, clean clothing, etc to the
Clothing store.