Highland Park Improvement Club shares updates on status; Club will rebuild with input from the community

The Highland Park Improvement Club held a virtual Town Hall on Oct. 13.

Since the Highland Park Improvement Club headquarters building on Holden Street SW burned in late June, there has been a hole in the community that many have tried to fill. The organization has been far from idle since that day and on Wednesday evening, Oct. 13 they shared updates on their status.

You can view their ZOOM presentation here.

passcode xZ@.nU96

Led by resident Nicole Mazza, Board President of the Club. the meeting covered the history of the former building that was completed in 1924, That portion presented by Kay Kirkpatrick, a trustee of the club, shared photos of the club as it looked in the early days.

Nicole then talked about the fire noting that it began on June 25th at 1:30 am in an alley side alcove. It was ruled undetermined. Damage to the interior meant there wasn't much left to salvage inside.

Treasurer Shannon Harris then explained that the insurance policy covered $750.000 with $50,000 for loss of income (though it's unclear how much they will receive) and $20,000 for personal property. The insurance company provided an appraisal of $450.000 for the building. That money is now in hand but as they work on the rebuild project they can claim up to the full $750,000.

They will be seeking additional funding as well.

Trustee Julie Schickling talked about outdoor space programming that might be done using tents, or a shipping container, with portable restrooms on site, all meant to keep the services that HPIC provides to the community going. They were able to repurpose an existing grant to enable the purchase of those items.

HPIC 2.0

The plan to rebuild was covered by Kay Kirkpatrick who outlined the steps.

Assess/Secure the building. A structural and engineering assessment and winterizing will be done.

Then later this fall a design team will be selected including an architect.

This winter HPIC will engage with the community through input sessions

Those ideas will result in building use prioritization that will inform the design of the space

Next spring the designs will be reviewed and a membership vote will be held

Finally a contractor will be hired

Kay noted that this is a an opportunity to build with intention and create a really unified vision for the neighborhood.

Shannon Harris continued with a program to get people involved including discussions, funding and encouraging volunteers, especially those who have experience running a capital campaign and doing fundraising. She noted that they are working with a consultant who helped HPIC transition from a membership organization to a 501 c3 non profit organization a few years ago.