Revered by All

The heart and soul of Island Park was the revered Island Park Village Hall. It was the headquarters of the community, central gathering point for all community events, big and small. It was a part of everyone’s life.
Built in 1936, it was Island Park’s city hall, courthouse, wedding chapel, community center, storm shelter, fire station, and hub of the community. It was also a temporary school, a temporary church, and it provided storage for Iverson’s Ice Company.
This 5,120 SF three-level building was built by the Works Program Administration (WPA). An ambitious employment and infrastructure program created by President Roosevelt in 1935 to lift the country out of the Great Depression.

The Center of Community

Residents went to the Village Hall for meetings, to vote, to go to church, to the firemen’s dance, to hear guest speakers talk about community events, for potluck dinners and also to hear politicians give their pitches for votes. Christmas programming where families sang Christmas carols and children recited verses and poems. Santa would come wearing rubber fireman’s boots with his red costume. The Island Park Community Church held services there. Upstairs, in the loft, Sunday school classes were held there.
Weddings, funerals and confirmation classes too. The building was also used for the village court house. Justice of the Peace, Doc Rydell held court there in the upstairs loft. Whether it was legal or not, they used to sell adult beverages in the fire barn section of the building during community-wide picnics.

Creating Neighborly Social Spirit

The Island Park Village Hall may be best known as the home of the famous Island Park Volunteer Fire Department, which officially organized on November 1, 1933.  According to the organization’s establishing charter, the aim and purpose of this association was, to fight fire, protect public life, and create a neighborly social spirit in the Village of Island Park.
The iconic island event, “Island Park Firemen’s Field Days,”was initially begun to help raise money to build a ball park on the field abutting the Village Hall. It was held the first weekend in August.

Innovative Design and Construction

The building has figuratively and literally weathered great storms. A tornado demolished much of the area in 1965 and cut across the island through Swenson Park adjacent to the property. The Island Park Village Hall, being built with concrete all the way to the roofline and having windows that were cast in place, survived the storm. 
Walls that were poured in place, and windows that were cast in place, both add to its incredible stability. The building and roof are supported by beautiful wood scissor trusses, wood purlins, and wood roof deck which are all exposed and visible inside.
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The exterior walls appears to be a lap siding from a distance giving it a historic, American charm. However, that look was actually create by pouring the concrete walls in place using forms. This method wouldn’t become common until the 1960s and 1970s, which is one reason this building is so significant and was decades ahead of its time.
This building is an example of remarkable craftsmanship. The Island Park Village Hall remains impressively solid today.
Island Park merged with Mound on March 10, 1960. The Island council signed the Village Hall property over to Mound in its last official action.