Grants fund renovation completion in Hallsville

The Hallsville Community Center had its heating and air conditioning systems replaced last month with help from a $10,000 grant from the Boone County Community Trust and $5,000 from the City of Hallsville.

Part of the city’s $5,000 gift was used to install park benches downtown near a playground and the Hallsville R-IV school.

“Over the last several years the building has been deteriorating,” Hallsville City Clerk Cheri Reisch said. “Both the systems were in bad shape.”

The heating system was installed in 1966 when the center was built, and the air conditioning was installed in 1984.

Workers stumbled upon an unexpected discovery while performing the duct work in the community center, which had formerly been the site of the Hallsville Elementary School and a teen center. Workers found two 3-foot by 4-foot photographs of teenagers playing pingpong. Many people featured in the photographs still live in town, Reisch said, and the pictures are being donated to the Hallsville Historical Society.

The improvements completed the community center’s renovation plans, which began in 2003 with a $5,000 grant from Boone Electric Community Trust and volunteer labor from local businessman John Schloot and others. With the grant and volunteer help, the exterior of the building was renovated and the electricity was rewired.