Excursions available of Topeka Woman's Club building, as renovations proceed

Courtney Stemler looks through old photographs of the historic Woman's Club of Topeka building, at 420 S.W. 9th St., late last year. Stemler, along with three other business partners, purchased the building from auction and plan to turn the space into an event venue named The Beacon.

The new proprietors of the historic Woman’s Club of Topeka creating are planning to provide “bare bones” excursions of the place, and ticket gross sales from the excursions will benefit a area nonprofit.

According to a news release Tuesday from entrepreneurs Shelby Brokaw and Courtney Stemler, excursions of the creating will be supplied the 3rd weekend in February.

Those who determine to embark on a tour can hope to see historic characteristics of the making that have been uncovered for the duration of the renovation procedure, as the new owners renovate the previous Woman’s Club into a downtown event location named “The Beacon.” Those people touring the space will also listen to about the owners’ future designs.

Stemler claimed in an interview Tuesday with The Topeka Funds-Journal that she and her co-proprietors are nearing the end of section a person of the renovation method, which contains demolition in some locations and doing work with the task architect to finalize options.

The previous Woman’s Club of Topeka building was constructed in the 1920s and is outlined on the Countrywide Sign-up of Historic Destinations, so any potential renovation programs would have to be authorized by the Condition Historic Preservation Business office.

Stemler and Brokaw co-have the place, at 420 S.W. 9th St., with Chris Stemler and Nic Irick. The group formally took in excess of ownership Nov. 9 and given that then, have been pulling up drab carpet, eliminating office cubicles, and exposing concealed gems, as they work to restore the Woman’s Club building to its previous glory.

According to the news launch, the owners have uncovered architectural aspects through their renovations — together with stained glass windows, artwork deco gentle fixtures, a stage, balconies and additional — that have been hidden for 40 many years. Historic shots will also be on exhibit all through the tour.

A photograph shows the former ballroom of the historic Woman's Club of Topeka building, 420 S.W. 9th St., in its heyday. Photos like this one are expected to be on display for those touring the space next month to view.

Stemler told The Capital-Journal that she and her business companions have been thrilled to uncover some of the particulars they experienced beforehand read stories about.

“I think we’ve all been really excited about the stage artwork and some of the theatre particulars that had been lined up by sheetrock or momentary partitions or the fall ceiling,” she mentioned. “The other matters we’ve been actually thrilled about are gentle fixtures and some aspects in the ceiling that we could not actually see right until we acquired all of the ceiling tiles out.”

Past reporting by The Money-Journal indicated the first ground of the developing after held a theater, but the function space has been covered by a raised ground for a long time, providing way to workplaces that were being most just lately made use of by the Kansas Coverage Department.

A revived theatre that may well at the time yet again enjoy host to live productions is predicted to be 1 characteristic of The Beacon celebration venue.

The owners expect to formally open The Beacon early next year. In the meantime, the impending bare bones tours will give Shawnee County citizens a glimpse of the progress.

Tours are $10 per particular person and are envisioned to just take position Feb. 19-21. Tickets may well be ordered on the web at BeaconTopeka.com/barebones. They should be procured at minimum a day in advance of the date a particular person would like to acquire a tour, and ticket buyers must decide on a specific tour time.

In accordance to the launch, tours will be conducted in teams of 10, and there will be three tours held every hour on that Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Facial area masks are demanded to participate in the excursions. The release also implies tours aren’t recommended for children less than 10 due to the ongoing renovations.

All ticket proceeds are predicted to advantage CASA of Shawnee County, which advocates for children and youths involved in the court docket program.

Stemler said she and her co-proprietors chose to support CASA of Shawnee County due to the fact the firm experienced to terminate its yearly Residences for the Holidays fundraiser this earlier calendar year since of COVID-19.

Even though Stemler doesn’t expect to raise as substantially as CASA would have during its once-a-year party, she hopes the ticket revenue will make up some of the big difference.

“And all of us have an curiosity in the higher very good of the group,” she claimed, “so serving to out nonprofits like CASA and Doorstep and all those varieties of people who are accomplishing great in the neighborhood is a way that we can form of give again with what we’re performing.”