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Today the Ismon House remains an impressive, structurally
sound and attractive building, with tremendous potential
for community use. Over the years, however, both the
exterior and interior of the building suffered from
neglect due to a lack of sufficient funding to maintain
the building's original grace, character and elegance.
In the late 1990's, several events affected the
status of the Ismon House:
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A city inspection revealed a
number of code violations.
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The Leisure Hour Club's 99-year
lease expired.
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The city of
Albion
assumed responsibility for the building.
When ownership and responsibility for the building were
transferred to the Downtown Development Authority (DDA),
a group of concerned citizens undertook the rescue,
restoration and adaptation of this
Albion
treasure.
The first order of business was
to organize under the name Friends of the Mary Sheldon
Ismon House. The group successfully filed with the state
of
Michigan
for incorporation as a membership organization and for
certification as a 501(C)(3) non-profit, tax-exempt
organization.
Members of the Friends attended
several DDA meetings, and on
July
13, 1999
the Friends petitioned the DDA
to authorize them "to preserve, restore and
maintain the Mary Sheldon Ismon House as a community
center to meet some of the social, cultural, civic and
educational needs of the
Albion
community." On
November
9, 1999
, the DDA voted to designate the
Friends an official committee of the DDA, and delegated
the group to proceed with plans for the restoration.
Meanwhile, during the summer and fall of 1999 the
Ismon Board of Directors enlisted sufficient community
support through memberships and donations to pay for
protective work on the exterior of the building. The
Board also fully winterized the interior of the Ismon
House.
Cleaning the interior of the building was another
major task, involving dozens of volunteers over a period
of several months. This work included disposing of roll
insulation that covered the entire second story hardwood
floors, removing years of dust and debris from all three
floors, cleaning up the basement, disconnecting and
discarding old fixtures and appliances, and tearing out
paneling and drop ceilings to reveal the structure and
beauty of the building's original interior.
Throughout this process many lovely features were
uncovered, including diamond-shaped leaded windows in
the entryway, frames for the two windows that once
flanked the fireplace in the main entrance room, high
ceilings with attractive moldings, and numerous
additional windows behind the paneling.
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