Main St. Colfax, WI.

In 1998, then Village President, Gail Svee, asked a local citizen, Joan Scharlau, to form a restoration group for the Colfax Municipal Building. Mrs. Svee had received numerous phone calls from people in the community who were concerned about the condition of this beautiful old building. The old theater was not in use and became basically a place for storage, the basement, which at one time was the Senior Citizens Center, had flooded and never been restored, and the windows were boarded up giving the building a very dilapidated appearance.

The first meeting of the restoration group was held on October 10, 1998. At subsequent meetings, officers were elected, a Board of Directors appointed, and a Constitution developed. A campaign for funds was held in 2001 to help with expenses. Approximately, $26,000 was raised during that campaign.

In 2002, at the request of the Colfax Municipal Building Restoration Group, the Colfax Municipal Building was placed on the State’s 10 most endangered historic properties list by the Wisconsin Trust for Historic Preservation. The Group applied to have the building designated as a historic property by being placed on both the State and National Registers of Historic Places. This occurred in January 2004.

The Colfax Municipal Building Restoration Group has non-profit status under the 501© (3) IRS code.

The Group has paid for the restoration of the main hallway of the building, replacement of the front steps, replacement of windows and numerous other projects. The most expensive project paid for by the Group was the replacement of the entire electrical system in the building. The cost of this project has pretty well depleted are funds. A grant received by the Village paid for the replacement of most of the windows in the building which has brightened up the theater area immensely. The Group recently had the theater ceiling repaired and the walls and ceiling painted. The stage curtains were cleaned and restrung. The Group also has had the old paneling removed in the ticket room, repairing the plaster and painting that room as well as refinishing the floor. The old ticket room is now used as our Colfax History Room. We are very proud of the difference these projects have made in the appearance of the Cozy Theater area.

Our most anticipated challenge is to raise money for an elevator. We will soon be starting to work toward that accomplishment. We do have some “seed” money for the elevator, thanks to a bequest (designated for the elevator) left the Group by a couple very interested in seeing the restoration of this old building completed.

We feel we are finally seeing progress with this project. When the ceiling and hallways are restored that will be another step in the right direction. The floors will be the next project.

BUILDING HISTORY

The cornerstone of the building was laid in 1915 and the building completed in 1916.  A loan from the State Trust Fund was secured in the amount of $13,000 to be paid off in annual installments of $1,000 each.  The architect who drew the plans for the building was Mr. Carl Volkman of Eau Claire, Wisconsin.  The contract for the construction of the building was awarded the Wisconsin Construction Company of Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin.

The building is built of sandstone from the Colfax stone quarry.  The Colfax Stone Company was a very prosperous business at the time.  They shipped stone as far east as New York and also had orders from Montana.  A school in Watertown, South Dakota was built of this stone, a depot in New Richmond, as well as a Lutheran Church in Madison, Wisconsin to mention a few.

During World War I the auditorium was used for weekly rallies to support the service men and women.

In January of 1919, Gerhard Hammer purchased the Joy Theater motion picture business from Mr. Harsh and installed the equipment in the Village hall auditorium.  The first motion picture shown there was on January 21, called “Pershings Crusaders”.

As the years have gone on, many events were held in the building including lyceum programs, St. Olaf Choir concerts, wedding dances, roller skating, church services and baptisms, and high school class plays.  The building was also used for classrooms during a building project at the school.  It was used during the tornado in 1958 for a shelter and a place where injured were taken to await the ambulance.  For many years it has been the meeting place for the scouts, barber shoppers, Kiwanis, and youth groups and also used as the senior citizens center.  This building has, for many years, been the social hub of the community.  All these events accumulate into many wonderful memories for the people who have grown up in the Colfax area.

In 2002 the building was declared on of Wisconsin’s 10 most endangered historic properties.  In October of 2003, the building was listed on the State Register of Historic Places and in January of 2004 placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

It is the goal of the Colfax Municipal Building Restoration Group to restore the building so the basement meeting rooms and the auditorium can again be used by the community for many of the same kinds of events that were held there in the past.

The Colfax Municipal Building Restoration Group has non-profit status under the 501© (3) IRS code.

The Group has paid for the restoration of the main hallway of the building, replacement of the front steps, replacement of windows and numerous other projects.  They continue to work toward the restoration of the old theater.