Historic 1904, a new local event venue, held an Open House Saturday, October 29. Guests were welcome to tour through the buildings on the campus, which include the Chapel, the reception hall, bride and groom suite, and the Siesta House Airbnb.
The quaint chapel at 109 Tipton Street in Menard was previously property of the Menard Industrial Development Corp. (MIDC). The building— First Christian Church— was sold via sealed bid in December of 2020. The partnership of Cherry and Cody Swindall, and Alan and Mechele Peters submitted the lone bid, and successfully purchased the church and its lot. Later the owners were able to acquire the property next door, resulting in the Historic 1904 campus.
At Saturday’s open house, refreshments were served, and many sat and visited in the reception hall, enjoying the space for quite some time. In attendance were guests whose parents and grandparents had attended church in the Chapel when it was the First Christian Church of Menard. Some visitors had even attended church there when they were children.
Between 50-60 guests attended, many from the community who had never been in any of the buildings.
Owner/operator Cherry Swindall was pleased with the turnout, and enjoyed showing off the hard work that has gone into the creation of this venue. “It was a blessing for us to present our dream-come-true to the community. We had so many positive and encouraging comments and well wishes,” said Swindall. “It warmed our hearts!”
Swindall would like to thank everyone who attended and also those who have posted such nice comments on their Facebook and Instagram. “This is so much more than a wedding venue, which is what we wanted the community to come and see. We will have more events for people to come check out the property.”
The next public event is the annual A Country Christmas program, a church pantry fundraiser hosted by Tyler Wright on Friday, December 23. Swindall suggests: “If you missed coming this past Saturday, please do attend that event. It is truly special!” Details for A Country Christmas are forthcoming in The Menard News and on Historic 1904 social media pages.