By a vote of 18 to 5, members of the Ellsworth American Legion voted to move forward with a proposal to build a new, 100’ by 200’ multi-purpose community building on legion-owned property in Ellsworth.

American Legion member Heather McClendon spoke at the Nov. 14 meeting in favor of the project.

“This building is not going to last forever,” she said.“Yes, membership is dwindling, but we are not going to attract younger veterans if we don’t update, if we don’t do something different.”

Legion member Dale Weinhold said the legion isn’t about community buildings, but helping veterans.

Ellsworth American Legion Commander George Martin said members should think about the future.

Before the vote was taken, members of the Ellsworth Sons of the American Legion Squadron presented an overview of the proposed project to members of the Ellsworth American Legion, and Scott Moore, Ellsworth city administrator, presented the city’s proposal.

SAL members Johnny Goddard, Mark Parsons and Bruce Hyman spoke first.

“There is a desire in the community [for a] building that is large enough to host some major events,” Goddard said.

He said the building would be large enough to accommodate 450 people and host state conventions, weddings, local school district events, etc.

The result would be a larger American Legion building that is open to the community with partners such as Ellsworth County Economic Development, the Ellsworth Area Chamber of Commerce, the Ellsworth County Medical Center, and the Ellsworth VFW — anybody, according to Goddard.

“I think the American Legion can benefit from these local partnerships,” he said. “And have new ways of fundrasing, having more fundraising events within the community and, of course, weddings too.”

Goddard said the community needs to look for ways to retain its young people and remain vibrant. “When Ellsworth decides to do something, regardless of what it is, it gets done,” he said.“The community comes together.” The biggest example of this was the Ellsworth Correctional Facility. “Regardless of the way you felt about that, it came through, it helped stabilize Ellsworth County and the City of Ellsworth.” Goddard said he and Ellsworth SAL Commander Allan Grothusen, met with representatives from the Dane G. Hansen Foundation. During those meetings, they discovered there are grants available that could be beneficial to the proposed project. Goddard said the Ellsworth American Legion is the prime decision maker in the whole process. “We’re here for the American Legion, and not anybody else,” he added.“If the American Legion wishes to do this, we’re here to help. We want to make sure that all those entities that belong to the American Legion are safe and vibrant. The Sons aren’t going to make any decisions. The decisions will be made by this group.” Moore said the concept for the community center project goes back to 2017 when it was mentioned during a strategic planning meeting. “For the last 45 years, this has been the heartbeat for different events,” he said. Moore said he wanted to make sure, from the city’s standpoint, that it embraces this opportunity. “We embrace it because we know we have water, sewer and run-off that is going to impact the community,” he said. “So it is important for you to know that from the city’s standpoint, we’re going to make sure all those things are addressed.” Moore said the fact that other partners could be added makes the project attractive for grant funding. He said everyone in the room would agree that the American Legion maintaining ownership of the building is important. “It’s going to be your building — whatever happens,” Moore said. Moore recommended doing the project in phases. “If you do everything in phases, you could probably get something done under $800,000,” he said. “I think we have some grants that would be willing to pay for half of that.” Moore said the city wants to make sure it is a good neighbor in the process. “If you all embrace this, the next generation would be grateful that you did,” he said.“This is a once-in-a-generation thing.” After the vote, Martin said John Sherman, the legion’s attorney, will be invited to come to the December meeting to talk about placing the land owned by the legion into a trust so the legion retains ownership and a 501(c)(3) can be set up for donations.