The Wardsville Lions Club will hold a dinner tonight to pay for recent renovations to its building at 3505 Route M.
About two months ago, the Lions Club finished renovations that added about 2,500 square feet to the interior of the building. Leadership at the Lions Club said they hope the improvements will make the facility better for community uses.
From 4-7 p.m. today, the Lions Club will host a ham and chicken dinner to pay for the $200,000 renovation of the building. Each plate costs $10. A two-man band will play from 6-9 p.m., and adult drinks will be sold for $2.
"This is our show-off event," said Bill Gratz, Wardsville Lions Club president-elect.
Tim Wilbers runs events held at the club's event hall. Wilbers said the club hopes as many as 1,000 people will attend today's event and that about $5,000 will be raised to pay for the renovations.
"We just want people to come see the hall," Wilbers said.
About four years ago, the Lions Club began updating the interior of the 51-year-old structure. The club added LED lighting in the main hall on the first floor. Wooden parts of walls were replaced and other parts of walls were repainted in a modern, dark shade of gray.
Two years ago, the Lions Club began its biggest part of the renovation, which added a 28-by-44-foot section to the back of its building. On the first level, a new bar sits in the renovated area and a storage room for the club's kitchen sits on the bottom level.
The addition serves as a brace for one of two new 2,500-pound heating and air conditioning units. Previously, six residential heating and air conditioning units heated and cooled the building.
Three new white stone-covered breezeways now greet visitors as they enter the red-brick building. Wilbers said the club added the breezeways to prevent hot or cold air from escaping the building.
After finishing the renovations, the original 4,000-square-foot building increased in size by more than half. Norb Cobb, the main carpenter on the project, said the new portions of the building added 2,464 square feet to the space.
The Wardsville Lions Club prides itself on the ways it gives back to the community. Much of the money raised by the group is donated to eye tissue banks, Gratz said. Other funds get donated to the Salvation Army and other community groups.
On Friday afternoon, Mid-America Bank used the newly renovated hall to host a free luncheon for veterans in the Jefferson City area.
Between 130-150 people attended the event, said Brian Berhorst, Mid-America Bank chief executive officer. Many of the Lions Club's staff members including Wilbers and Cobb were on hand to help Mid-America Bank run the event.
"It's about being with these people," Berhorst said of the event. "That's what we have to do, whether it's veterans or anyone in the community."
Next, the Lions Club plans to replace an aging chain link fence with a railing in front of its concessions stand for two adjacent youth baseball fields owned by the club.
"We're just trying to bring everything up to date," Wilbers said.
The club wants to add new lighting to the baseball fields, but that project is several years down the line, Cobb said.
"We've got to make some money back first," he said.