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Flooring replaced, ramp and deck built

Published 12:00am Friday, October 8, 2004

The cultural center has not had a gallery show up since just after Labor Day, when the floors were redone and touch up paint was splattered on the walls. A gallery show featuring the work of Scott Gunvaldson, a Fergus Falls native, went on display this week. His work will be in the gallery for all of October. The cultural center opened completely for business again on Monday after its four week project. &uot;We tried to work through the remodel,&uot; said Lina Belar, executive director. The grant used to pay for the new floors and handicap accessible ramp was a three-quarter match grant. The cultural center raised about $9,000 for the $40,000 project, said Dennis Anderson, a cultural center board member. &uot;It was pretty hard to pass up,&uot; he said. The grant was part of a small cities development grant. The money had to be used for infrastructure. The fa?ade of the building is still in good shape, Belar said. But the building was not handicap accessible. A ramp was built at the rear entrance along with a deck. &uot;I can just see performances out here,&uot; Belar said of the new deck. Anderson was instrumental in getting the remodeling project accomplished, Belar said. &uot;He got a lot of dirt under his fingernails,&uot; she said. Anderson, along with six other volunteers including New York Mills Mayor Randy Clarksean, spent two days ripping up the old, worn down tongue and groove floor in the main gallery. It was worn down so badly that dirt had worked its way down through the floor and into the basement, Anderson said. Pails of dirt had to be hauled out. &uot;The floors were very charming,&uot; Belar said. &uot;But they had developed a lot hills and valleys. They were safe to walk on, but they weren’t safe for dancers.&uot; The hardwood floor in the upstairs studio did not have to be redone, but it was refinished. This is the 12th year the New York Mills Regional Cultural Center has been in its current building. Theirs is the first brick building built in New York Mills. It was built by Olaf Pary in the late 1880s, Belar said. The center started as an arts retreat program in 1990. &uot;We are still very active in the arts retreat,&uot; Belar said. For this program, six to eight artists are chosen per year to complete a residency in New York Mills. Robin Barcus, a Chicago artist, was the most recent recipient of the Jerome Foundation stipend. She stayed visited for the month of September and constructed a 14-foot-tall corn dress. Though Barcus was from Chicago, Belar said 51 percent of the artists selected by the Jerome Foundation are from Minnesota or the five burrows of New York.