Odd Fellows Have Big Plans For Northwest Schoolhouse

ORLEANS – Inside the Odd Fellows Hall, two old black and white photos adorn a wall immediately across from the front entrance. In them, students sit politely in rows for a class picture. Most of them, anyway.
 
“Look at this guy,” said Paul Davies, pointing to a potential mischief maker in one of the photos. “Keep your eye on this kid.”
 
The photos provide a small glimpse into the origins of the historic building, which was built in 1849. Commonly referred to as the Northwest Schoolhouse, the building originally served as one of the town’s first school buildings. But since 1878, it’s been owned and run by the International Order of the Odd Fellows Lodge 132. Davies, an Odd Fellows member, said the building operated as a community center for a variety of local groups and organizations through the mid-20th century.
 
“It’s a funny thing. You know the old saying, ‘The center of town was on the outskirts?’ That’s exactly what happened here. That’s the town green,” he said, pointing to a window overlooking the building’s lawn fronting the corner of Main Street and Namskaket Road.
 
But use of the building waned over time, and much of the interior shows its considerable age. Evidence of its storied history occupies nearly every corner. The attic houses old desks that were original to the building’s school origins and old phonograph cylinders that predated vinyl records. In another room hangs authentic clothing and garb from centuries past. The basement, meanwhile, is stocked with old memorabilia, from a former bingo switchboard to old wooden theater seats.
 
Davies and the rest of the local Odd Fellows, a group about 12 in number, have worked tirelessly for nearly 20 years to make improvements to the building in the hopes of returning it to its former function as an active community space. The building hosts some events, including AA meetings and yoga and karate classes, but Davies said it’s still significantly underused.
 
“We really need some more people in here,” he said.
 
The Odd Fellows first began applying for and receiving project funding in support of the building through the Community Preservation Act in 2006. Through the act, a 3 percent property tax surcharge is used to fund projects annually in the areas of historic preservation, recreation, open space and affordable housing.

According to records from the town’s community preservation committee, which fields project applications and makes recommendations on how to award CPA funds, a total of $543,847 in community preservation funds has been awarded to the project over the course of 10 grant applications. That funding has been used for things including foundation and roof work, architectural services, the installation of a fire suppression system and historic siding and windows.
 
At the May 12 annual town meeting, the Odd Fellows group is seeking another $95,000 CPA allotment to complete work on a new commercial kitchen for the building’s first floor, complete with a four-burner stove, flat-top grill and fryolators. Davies said the request will be the organization’s last from the CPC, at least for the foreseeable future.
 
“There’s always going to be stuff, and they recognize that,” he said of the CPC. “That was kind of my selling point this time. ‘OK, we’ve been doing this a long time. Let’s just finish it.’ And they went with that.”
 
The CPC suggested that a nonprofit be formed to help schoolhouse proponents establish an additional source of revenue for proposed work and renovations to the building, Davies said. In December 2012, the Northwest Schoolhouse Inc. was formed.
 
The goal is to raise funds through the nonprofit to support the next chapter in ongoing efforts to improve the schoolhouse, Davies said. The Odd Fellows have schematic drawings that show a fully renovated property complete with an addition housing an elevator, a new staircase and handicap access, as well as an outdoor patio area. The organization envisions repurposing the basement into a movie theater, Davies said.
 
“The next [phase], we really do have to go for deeper pockets,” he said.
 
Davies said the Odd Fellows are also interested in seeing if another group or organization in need of a new building would consider building something to adjoin the proposed addition. He said there is space on the property to accommodate something the same size as the schoolhouse.
 
“If we did, we could share the heating system, share the fire suppression system. They’d have use of the dining hall, a commercial kitchen and a movie theater,” he said.

Beyond the schoolhouse, he said the nonprofit could raise money for other historical preservation efforts around town that could also help protect housing that the town needs. That includes privately owned structures that funding sources such as the Community Preservation Act might not support.
 
“That building across the street, that’s a 1700s house,” Davies said, pointing to a home across the street from the schoolhouse. “That’s a cool building. Now, it’s privately owned. If they go to [the CPC] and say, ‘Look, I’ve got a really historic building that’s gonna fall down and I need some money,’ they won’t give them any money. It’s privately owned.”
 
Davies said the Odd Fellows came to prominence as an organization at a time before Medicare and Medicaid, when local civic organizations had a larger place in the fabric of the community. But with the cost of housing, food and other goods and materials still very much on the rise, he said there’s still an important role for those organizations to play in the community today. The schoolhouse, he said, could once again become the local hub that it once was. He envisions the kitchen being used to provide affordable meals for those who need them, for example.
 
“I think the central point I would make is we need to patch together what we can of our own social safety net right away,” he said.
 
For more information on the Northwest Schoolhouse project and how to donate, visit www.NorthwestSchoolhouse.org.

 Email Ryan Bray at ryan@capecodchronicle.com