Memorial Hall Awarded a $250,000 Grant for Restoration and Repairs

Dustin Nealeigh stating that St. Clair Memorial Hall is a place that matters.

While it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a community partnering together to keep a historic treasure alive, such as Darke County’s historic Henry St. Clair Memorial Hall, located in downtown Greenville.

Memorial Hall, which celebrates its 100^th anniversary in May, was awarded a $250,000 grant for façade repairs and exterior restoration by the Ohio Department of Development. This funding was secured through the collaboration of the City of Greenville, Greenville City Schools, Darke County Endowment for the Arts and Main Street Greenville. The matching funds were provided through permanent improvement funds of Greenville City Schools, who owns the building, and by Darke County Endowment for the Arts.

The City of Greenville applied to the Ohio Department of Development for a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Discretionary Program Tier 3 on behalf of Greenville City Schools with assistance from Mote and Associates and Susan Schepis, Grants Specialist.

“We are thrilled to have so many different groups working together to secure funding and help restore Memorial Hall,” said Jon McGreevey, Director of Administrative Services for Greenville City Schools. “This funding will ensure Memorial Hall remains a treasure in Darke County.”

The $250,000 matching grant will preserve multiple aspects of Memorial Hall. Renovations include restoration and repairs of the front façade and reinforcing the façade structure by repointing mortar joints and repairing deteriorating cast stone. Structural improvements will be completed in the attic and damage caused by excessive moisture in the building over the past 100 years will be addressed.

With cooperative weather, officials anticipate construction will commence in May and the major parts of the renovation will be completed before school starts in late August.

A Centennial Celebration for Memorial Hall organized by the Darke County Center for the Arts (DCCA) and local citizens will be held May 4-6, 2012. Building tours will be offered on Friday evening May 4, and musical selections, which were performed at Memorial Hall’s dedication on May 3, 1912, will be featured.

A building used for educational and cultural purposes was the dream of Henry St. Clair, a man who moved to Greenville in 1872 and opened Darke County’s most successful wholesale grocery business. St. Clair served the community as a member of Greenville’s school board and as a city councilman. He and his wife Ella Van Dyke St. Clair contributed generously to local community needs. St. Clair’s final gift to Darke County was leaving $100,000 in his will to the Greenville Board of Education to build Memorial Hall. Construction on the building began in June 1910 and was completed in 1912. The project cost $135,000 in its entirety, and St. Clair’s wife, Ella, paid the remainder.

For more information about the Centennial Celebration, contact DCCA at 547-0908 or visit their website at www.centerforarts.net.