Vickie Coffland’s family has been in Hopedale for at least five generations, “I love this little town,” she said.
Coffland is the unofficial organizer for the “Hopedale Come-Unity Project” which aims to bring the village together towards one goal. That goal, for now, is to renovate and put together a Hopedale Village Museum and community room.“The village council gave me their blessing at the February meeting to go forward with this idea,” Coffland explained. “After driving by that building all the time and seeing it sit empty was so sad…I decided to bite the bullet, as they say, and ask them if they would be interested in seeing if we could salvage it for the community.”
The building is 422 Normal St., right next to the village office. At one time, it housed the local school, K through 4th grade. Once Harrison Central became the main school in the county, the building sat empty for many years. Luckily, the village maintained the building and it was never hit by any vandalism.
“Using this little building for a local museum will be a great place for people to see just how we developed over time. Hopedale was once a busy community with many local businesses,” Coffland said. “This will showcase the old school and the people who went there.”
Work in progressVickie Coffland
Funding for the museum is currently coming from individuals in the community. Coffland explained there are grants available but most require a 501c3 organization, which is something she’s working on setting up for the museum. In the meantime, she’s working with the village and is always accepting donations.
The building has two classrooms and a hall with two bathrooms. One room is almost completely renovated and the restrooms are the next project on the list so it can be used soon. The community room part will eventually be open to “anyone who needs a nice space to hold meetings, a small gathering, perhaps classes or even a book club,” Coffland said. “This will be a more personal/cozy place for less than 50 people.”
Coffland said there’s not a specific completion date for the renovations as they’re continuing work as they have the funds to do so. It has been the work of many volunteers, “I can’t express how much work has gone into this so far with much more to go.”
The mostly finished classroomVickie Coffland
There are many, many people to thank for their help with this project and Coffland shared just a few community members for now, “I would like to acknowledge Ronnie Tweedy for letting us use the huge scaffolding set up so we can do the ceilings… Brad Anderson ,who just moved into Hopedale, is helping with some carpentry skills we don’t have… Darin Heavlyn has been instrumental in getting the word out via the community Facebook page.”
Coffland stressed that this is something for the community, built by those in the community, and that she loves seeing the efforts continue, “Keep us in your thoughts and we are actively seeking monetary donations so we can make this the best of the best for Hopedale. Any donations should be sent to the Village of Hopedale P.O. Box 467. Hopedale, Ohio 43976 and they will be acknowledged with a receipt for your records. Any donation will be used for this project only.”
If anyone has items from Hopedale of the past, Coffland said she would appreciate the opportunity to use them in the museum. “There is so much to tell but we need your help to share our past with our future!”
For more information on the museum, you can email Hopedale2025@gmail.com. You can also call the village office 740-937-2355 and leave a message for Coffland.
