USO Building

RESTORING THE FORMER USO/COUNTY COURTHOUSE BUILDING AND ESTABLISHING THE CULTURAL AND HISTORY CENTER A STATUS REPORT FROM YOUR PRESIDENT

From January 07 newsletter

OTHER USO BUILDING FUND RAISING ACTIVITIES PLANNED

In addition to the chili cook-off and dinner this coming Saturday, there will be another yard sale in March. Donations would very much be appreciated. The Big Band Express has a great USO show planned for April. More details in upcoming newsletters. For fund raising information, please call committee chairperson, Kathy Armstrong at 375-2643.

In addition, sponsorships are being sought by the committee for sponsorships of three replacement outside metal doors at $1700 each which will be recognized with a donor/memorial plaque at the site. The committee recently added $13,000 to the building fund by acquiring sponsors for the 51 windows in the building.

The Phase I funding goal has been achieved, thanks to our generous community donor and volunteers. We soon will expect the building to be usable The committee continues fund raising plans for Phase II which is estimated at $137,000. These tasks, over the next two years, include air conditioning, heating, kitchen and bathroom fixtures, refinish/replace all flooring, wall and ceiling insulation and installation of new ceilings, etc.

Summary Report November 2006:

USO BUILDING PROGRESS REPORT (SUMMARY)

To date we have raised over $58,000 of our goal of $66,000 for Phase 1 of the project. Recent fundraising activities (many by the USO Fundraising Committee, chaired by Kathy Armstrong) have included the following: supper and auction at the Elk's Lodge, John McCuen benefit concert at All-American Bar-B-Cue, dinner at Eagles Lodge, CLOTA Halloween "Spook House" at the USO Building, yard sale at Lana Jean's yard, Pizza Hut card sales, Community Dinner ticket sales, sales of sponsorships to restore USO building windows (all 51 sponsorships have been sold!), drawing for two signed prints donated by Larry Zabel (with framing donated by Gary Davis of the Border Shack), sales of "Olde Towne Delight" root beer bottled by IWV Brewery, plus grants from Wal-Mart, WACOM Thrift Shop and Altrusa.

The goal of Phase 1 is to refurbish the building to usable condition. Local volunteers have put a great deal of effort into cleaning up the USO building in order to hold several open houses here since May, as well as repairing and preparing to paint the exterior and interior. Renovations are underway. In October, after volunteers removed the old evaporative coolers and siren from the roof, Cooper Roofing began the major task of replacing the roofing. Carroll Electric is currently refurbishing the electrical system. MEC, Inc. has removed the asbestos from the boiler room and from the piping underneath the floor. Earth Landscape & Maintenance is developing the landscape design. In addition, the Rotary Club has adopted the stage, including repair of the old stage floor. Cardinal Plumbing is working to repair the building plumbing system. Gentry Air Conditioning is helping with the evaporative cooler installations. Windows are being removed and repaired or rebuilt by volunteers.

Rehabilitating the USO Building will be a major undertaking, but with the continued support of the community, we will pull it off! For more information, or if you or your organization want to participate in the project, please call Bill Nevins at 375-4764. Donations can be sent to HSUMD USO Building Fund, P.O. Box 2202, Ridgecrest, CA 93556.
Bill Nevins

September 2006: MUCH progress, many work parties later...

The Society's USO Building restoration committee has been very active over the summer. As you know, our application for a $300,000 grant from the California Cultural and Historical Endowment was not successful. Nevertheless, with the encouragement of the Society and the community, we decided to continue the project. While not precluding a reapplication, we decided on a pro-active plan, relying more on local funding and volunteer labor, as well as smaller project grants from other sources. The first phase is to refurbish the building to a usable condition. This involves taking care of the immediate maintenance needs of the structure, including repairing the roof and electrical systems, etc., as well as improving the appearance of the building by landscaping and repainting the exterior. At the end of Phase 1, around March 2007, we will ask the city to close the escrow on the building and turn its title over to the HSUMD. We estimate the cost of the first phase at about $50,000. To date, we have raised $29,000 of this amount through pledges and donations. We have been applying for grants and plan to go back to the community to raise the remainder of the required funds. In addition, we are counting on plenty of Society and community support in the form of volunteer labor.

After completion of Phase 1, the building will be in a condition that we can use it to facilitate fundraising. In Phase 2, we will complete refurbishments that range from the basics (replacing/repairing the flooring and ceiling, insulating our archive room) to finishing touches on the gift shop and exhibit areas. Again, we will be counting on a combination of grants (possibly including a CCHE grant next year) and community donations of funding and labor. This phase is scheduled for completion in March 2009, at which point the facility will open up as the Cultural and History Center, with a paid director and a volunteer staff. The USO Building will be back in business!

To date, we have cleaned up the USO Building enough to hold a couple of Open Houses. We have formed a Citizen's Advisory Committee, including representatives from the City, County, and local groups, who will provide us with guidance and advice and help us move this project forward in line with the desires of the community. The CAC meetings held so far have provided us with many good ideas and have given us a communication line with the City and community. We have also held the first work parties to prepare the interior and exterior of the building for painting. The next work party is planned for September 16. The fund-raising committee has ben very active, as you can read in Kathy Armstrong's report.

Thus, we are just at the beginning of a long effort to revitalize one of our town's most historic buildings. Volunteers are needed, particularly those with relevant professional skills such as painting, plumbing, stuccoing, etc.

Rehabilitating the USO Building will be a major undertaking, but with your help and the support of the community, we will pull it off!

For more information, please call Bill Nevins at 375-4764. Donations can be sent to HSUMD- USO Building Fund, PO Box 2202, Ridgecrest, CA 93556.

December 2005:

USO BUILDING PROJECT STATUS

Progress is happening with the great support received from our membership and the community. To date, we have received pledges for over $23,000 of which $6,000 has been contributed. Our goal for pledges is $50,000. We greatly appreciate your continued support. The proposal, due on January 31st, for the California Cultural and Historical Endowment (CCHE) grant is in the process of being written. We are presently in negotiations with the City of Ridgecrest for the transfer of the USO Building ownership and expect to have the Building Title before the proposal is submitted. Our plans include opening the building for a tour in the near future. A tour announcement will be publicized in the local papers.
Bill Nevins

USO BUILDING PLEDGES

If you haven't sent in your response to our recent letter asking for pledges to the refurbishment of the old USO Building/Old County Building, now might be a good time to dust off that letter and send in a pledge to HSUMD, P.O. Box 2202, Ridgecrest, 93556.

September 2005

Your board of directors, with the help of several Society members has been busy this summer with planning efforts for our HSUMD project to refurbish and restore the Old USO building, convert it into the headquarters for your Society and establish a Cultural and History Center for the community.

To recap a bit: the Society has targeted a state agency, the California Cultural and Historical Endowment (CCHE) for a competitive grant as a source of funding for the refurbishment. This grant requires a 1:1 match in the form of cash donations, in-kind donations (in our case, the USO building and property, which is presently owned by the City of Ridgecrest), volunteer labor and other in-kind services.

The principal activities of the Project Team since the Annual Meeting of the HSUMD in May 2005 are as follows:

1. The Society formally presented its project to the City Council's standing committee on the Quality of Life on June 23rd, which unanimously gave its approval. On August 17th, the City Council, at a closed meeting as required by law, considered the Society's request for the donation of the USO property as well as purchase offers tendered by others. The Council made the decision to donate the property to the Society. On August 31st, representatives of the Society met with the City Manager and staff to discuss the specific terms of the transfer of ownership.
2. A community outreach program was initiated during the summer months with presentations about our project to over 35 organizations, service clubs, fraternal groups and many others. The reaction and response has been overwhelmingly favorable, with over 800 support signatures and many testimonial letters recorded in favor.
3. A commercial appraiser, with offices in Bakersfield, has been engaged to establish the present worth of the property. This is an important element in structuring our financial plan. His final appraisal is expected soon.
4. We have been in contact with the CCHE staff relative to procedural matters. We are planning to submit our application this fall for the upcoming grant cycle, however, the grant application instructions, which we anticipated would be issued by September 1, have not arrived. The CCHE staff advises us that they are running late and a schedule for their issuance may be decided during the CCHE board meeting scheduled for mid-September.
5. However, we have started drafting the grant application using the instructions issued for the prior year's cycle. We are concentrating on the most critical sections of the application, which can be readily adapted to the new instructions when received.
6. We have been discussing the needed refurbishment tasks with local contractors to develop a range of costs, estimated to be several hundred thousand dollars. During this process, we have received offers of volunteer services to perform some of the refurbishment work which will be of help to meet the matching requirement.
7. With the city's decision to donate the property to us we felt it would be the proper time to initiate the fundraising campaign for grant matching and and first year's operating costs. The framework of an initial campaign has been developed and probably will be started by the time of our Society's September meeting. We have set a high bar of $250,000 as a goal. The moneys raised will be added to the grant moneys received, with a portion reserved to help pay for our first year's operating expenses once the Cultural and History Center is opened for business.

Needless to say, this project is of a large magnitude and will require the efforts and active participation of many of the Society's members during the fundraising campaign, refurbishment efforts and finally, the volunteer staffing of our Center. There are still several bridges to be crossed, but we are supremely confident that with your support and that of the community, our multiple goals of the restoration of an historic building, the establishment of a worthy headquarters for our Society and the creation of a Center to preserve the rich cultural and history of our desert area will be achieved.