TURNER — For decades, the Little Jewel Country Club sat quietly on the prairie outside Turner.
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Once a school, dance hall and gathering place for families across the Big Flat, the 111-year-old building had long since fallen into disuse.
Most people saw an abandoned building.
But Turner resident Tricia Kimmel saw something else.
This spring, after months of planning and weeks of preparation, Kimmel oversaw the remarkable move of the historic building seven miles into Turner, where it's being transformed into the community's new gathering place.
"It took a village," Kimmel said. "They built these little communities from nothing but grass and wildlife. I feel like it's kind of our responsibility to keep it going for the next generation and have a place for these younger people to come back to."
Moving a building of that age was no small task. Crews reinforced the structure, lifted it onto steel beams and slowly transported it into town — a journey that took about half an hour after years of planning.
For longtime Big Flat residents, the move represents much more than relocating an old building.
Ninety-four-year-old Dick Hickle remembers when the country club was filled with music and dancing.
“We got there on horseback. They had local people that played music," Hickle said. "They had a fiddle and a guitar. It was pretty wild."
Those memories are part of what inspired Kimmel to save the building rather than let it continue to deteriorate.
Residents all craned their necks and stopped what they were doing to watch the building make its unusual trip into Turner. Ron Fox, a member of the local Lions Club who helped with the restoration, happened to be picking up his mail when he spotted the roof coming down Main Street.
"I thought, 'Here comes the country club,'" he said with a laugh.
For younger residents like Shay Humphreys, the project represents something else entirely.
"The skyline of Turner hasn't changed," Humphreys said. "I haven't seen a new building in a long time. I think any change is good."
Kelly Cederberg is already looking ahead to the memories her own family will make inside the building.
"111 years ago, people were celebrating in here," she said. "And now, because of Tricia, we get to continue that. My boys get to be here and be a part of this."
Construction is expected to be completed by the end of the summer, with the first weddings, reunions and other community events already being scheduled for this fall.
For more information about the project and the past and future of the building, visit kimmelagpartners.com.
