The Center receives $20,000

Six years ago, former Colfax resident Don Steiger was seeking a way to have his wife’s memory carry on through the Colfax library. He and Bettie, who died in 2008, had been supporters of the library during their time in Colfax, and Don sought for that to continue, though the couple had long since moved away.

He purchased the former Hamilton Drug Store, which had previously sat empty for several years after its closure, for $80,000 and donated it to the library to be renovated as a community space.

Several improvements have now occurred at the building, which has been named The Bettie Steiger Community Enrichment Center, since the initial purchase, including cleaning and gutting the building, installing a connecting entrance to the library, sealing the dirt basement floor in concrete, repairing crumbling brick in the roof area, insulation, new front windows and applying stucco to the front of the building.

The work at The Center is far from complete, said Library Director Kristie Kirkpatrick, but it received another boost recently with a $20,000 grant from the Inland Northwest Community Foundation in mid-December.

“It will be used to complete the work in the front two rooms – the main room and the front entry room,” Kirkpatrick said.

The work to be done includes wiring, wall, ceiling and floor work.

“We, at this point, still have a lot of major things left,” said Kirkpatrick, “but we feel the completion of these front two rooms will help us move forward.”

Kirkpatrick told the Gazette that when the building was purchased in 2009 and the project started it was known that it would take a while and a lot of funds.

“We knew it would be expensive when we took it on. We knew it would take time,” she said. “With perseverance, we will finish it.”

The $20,000 grant which will help to push the work forward came just days after Mr. Steiger died Dec. 4 in his California home.

“He really saw this dream in his wife’s memory, and after working with him over the last six years, I really see Don when I work on this project,” said Kirkpatrick.

Kirkpatrick said everyone involved now has a further push to finish this work, and donations for The Center are now being accepted in Don’s memory.

Kirkpatrick said that one of the goals for the completion of the project in the years ahead is to make The Center operation independent of the library. It can currently only be open during library hours. She said she has seen great benefits from The Center already and sees an even bigger need for it as they work toward completion.

“The need for The Center has really grown in the last six years,” she said, citing classes, library programs, fitness groups and committee meetings

“It is so nice to have a main floor community space. I think it is going to be better than we anticipated, and it is more needed than we anticipated when we started.”

Reflecting back on the last six years, Kirkpatrick said the initial work started slowly as funding was sought, though the library did not do fundraising initially. She said they have not used library money to fund the renovations.

“A part of taking on The Center was that we would not impact the funds for library services that are already so limited,” she said.

They have relied on donations, grants and in-kind efforts, of which they have received $250,000 to date, including the initial $80,000 purchase and donation from Steiger and the most recent $20,000 grant.

“In the interim years, we made big improvements at LaCrosse, Endicott and Uniontown,” said Kirkpatrick. “Now that The Center has moved up to be our top focus, we are hoping for it to go faster, anticipating that it will go faster.”

Following the work which can be completed under the latest grant funding, Kirkpatrick said restrooms, an updated rear exit and heating and cooling infrastructure will still remain. Kirkpatrick also noted that they are “leaving options open” for the possibility of having smaller rooms within the space, which users could possibly utilize as classroom space or borrowed office space.