Geneva Legion Post 75 raising money to bring building back to its heyday

‘Strive for 75’ capital fundraiser to begin next year for upgrades, remodeling

For the past six years, members of the Fox River Geneva Post 75 American Legion have been working on capital improvements to the 1940 building – including new carpeting, flooring, remodeling and painting.

Now with an American Rescue Plan Act grant of $13,200 – for which the City Council just gave final approval – the members can pay for repair or replacement of the windows facing James Street.

“The windows are way more than 50 years old and they’re wooden,” Commander Mike Ferrari said. “On the James Street side, they are in horrible shape.”

The post, at 22 S. Second St., is on the corner of Second and James streets.

Members will have to contribute $16,500 toward the window replacements, according to the economic incentive agreement.

The work is part of a longer strategy, Ferrari said, not only to revive the post for its members, but to upgrade to be more attractive for private party rentals.

“The membership got smaller as people aged out and passed away,” Ferrari said.

Current membership is 165. Ten years ago, it was 300.

“A handful of us younger veterans started to revive the post and try to bring it back to its previous glory,” Ferrari said. “And part of this process is to fix all the broken things. We call it our capital improvement project.”

In the last six years, members repainted the entire inside of the building, put in new carpeting, fixtures, flooring and refrigeration equipment. They also remodeled the upstairs rental hall, bar and three restrooms, he said.

According to city documents for the ARPA grant, post members donated $37,250 for in-kind donations and had $39,480 in costs.

Members donated paint and fixtures as well.

“When you rent the hall, you want the bathrooms to be nice,” Ferrari said. “You don’t want to rent it and bad bathrooms.”

The basement, which had been relegated to storage, is now completely remodeled, along with the original bar.

“We’re trying to come up with a name for it, like The Fox Hole,” Ferrari said. “The 1919 Club, which is when the American Legion started in Geneva. We’ve been in continual operation since 1919.”

Other names for the membership to vote on in January include Bunker, Speakeasy, Club 75 and CP, which is military terminology for command post.

The roof is fixed, but the HVAC units on the roof need to be replaced, he said, and that’s $50,000.

All the other windows in the building need replacing and its first floor kitchen needs remodeling.

Every time someone rents the hall, they have to hire a caterer because the kitchen can’t be used, Ferrari said.

In the past, the Legion used to host a fish fry on Saturdays. Once the kitchen is remodeled, Ferrari said the Legion can bring back these community events.

“We’re figuring out – how do we fund this? We will start a capital improvement program, Strive for 75,” Ferrari said. “We’ll be kicking it off in January with a website and links for donations.”

Also beginning next year, on the third Thursday of the month, the post will host raffle night open to the public. It will include 50-50 and draw-down raffles.

A draw-down raffle involves pulling out a ticket every minute until there is one left, and that’s the winner.

Meat raffles will feature steaks, burgers and chops.

“Everybody loves meat, right?” Ferrari said.