DEMING, WA (MyBellinghamNow.com) – A historic Whatcom County landmark is making its triumphant return in Deming.

The Van Zandt Community Hall is celebrating its grand reopening on Friday, May 15, nine months after renovations began.

The upgraded building now features a new entrance that expands capacity, added storage space, a remodeled kitchen and extra operating space for the community radio station KAVZ 102.5.

Renovation Committee Chair Will Radecki told My Bellingham Now that the gathering space remains an important community hub at a time when in-person connection is as crucial as ever.

“There’s a real need for people to make an effort to get off the couch, turn off the TV and gather together and talk to another human being. The community hall has been that for members of the South Fork Valley, I think you’d have a hard time finding anybody in the South Fork Valley that hasn’t been to at least a couple events at the Van Zandt Community Hall,” Radecki said. “It’s always been a really important part of the community, and I think this renovation’s really going to lock that in for many decades.”

The building originally served as a two-room schoolhouse before evolving into a community gathering space that hosts potlucks, dances, weddings, poetry readings and more.

The renovation project was funded through a combination of a state grant and community donations. Radecki said the community is still searching for funds to buy an emergency backup generator so the building can act as an emergency shelter.

Friday’s reopening celebration comes ahead of the hall’s 100th anniversary this summer. The opening ceremony takes place from 3 to 5 p.m., followed by an open house until 7 p.m.