###

A routine maintenance project has turned into a full-blown renovation of the Mad River Grange Hall in Blue Lake, following the discovery of the 136-year-old building’s hidden ceiling. 

“This is one of those stories you hear about renovating an old building — each time you peel off a layer, you find this wonderful thing that was there before and wonder why in the heck someone covered it up,” Mad River Grange President Marlene Smith told the Outpost. “It really is stunning.”

For decades, the building’s original wooden structure was covered by a generic drop ceiling, a secondary ceiling that hangs below the original and is often used to conceal unsightly infrastructure or to improve acoustics. Last month, a volunteer with the Mad River Old Crows, a men’s service group, uncovered the historic beadboard while installing a new heat pump in the area above the false ceiling. 

“He had to remove one of the acoustic tiles from the ceiling and when we looked up and saw the beautiful wood and height, we saw the potential of the hall,” Hall Manager Jennifer Kramer told the Outpost. “We have many talented woodworkers, electricians, contractors and architects in our group, and they’ve decided to take the hall back to its original beauty.”

The drop tiles and wall panels have been removed, and the original ceiling has been sanded, repainted and outfitted with new lighting, as seen in the picture below. A mural that wraps around the interior of the hall was slightly damaged during the ceiling removal process, Smith said. The artist, former Blue Lake resident Jerry Lee Wallace, came down from Portland to touch it up and add new colors that will fit with the new wall color. 

So far, volunteers have put approximately 500 hours into the renovations, which have been funded through donations. Right now, they’re focused on repairing and refinishing the hardwood floors, which were previously hidden under a layer of drab linoleum. Once the floors are done, they’ll replace the windows.

“Our main focus on improving the space is to make it more attractive for people to hold their events there, whatever it may be,” Smith said. “[The grange] is the heartbeat of the community. It’s a gathering place where the whole community can get together and put on their event, whether that’s a celebration of life, a birthday, a potluck or a local forum.”

Smith added that the renovations wouldn’t be possible without the help of the Old Crows.

“The Old Crows are a really wonderful group of guys,” Smith said. “They get together weekly for their own socialization and recreation, either playing bocce ball down at the courts, throwing darts at the Logger Bar or horseshoes at the park. They just get together and do projects like this to exercise their skills and give back to the community.”