GRIDLEY, CA (MPG) - Since the late 1920s when the Gridley Veterans Memorial Hall (VMH) was dedicated to the veterans of the Great War (WWI), American Legion Posts (ALP) and the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) have had their meetings and events in the (VMH).

Veterans Memorial Halls were built throughout the country when the federal government made money available to communities that had active American Legion Posts in their towns. This federal action was to fulfill promises to support veterans when they returned home from WWI. Monies were used to build Veterans Memorial Halls to use for the events and needs of veterans.

Almost 100 years later, the Gridley Memorial Hall needs repair.

VFW Commander Ed Kawasaki, whose group currently meets in a section of the building, shared that the roof of the VMH sustained rain damage which made a section of the ceiling fall. This safety concern caused the Gridley American Legion Post 210 and the Gridley Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 5731 to close the main portion of the hall as an event venue until repaired.

The VMH is owned and maintained by Butte County. According to Butte County District 4 Supervisor Tod Kimmelshue, Butte County budgeted $700,000 to repair this important historical building in the City of Gridley. “I am so excited to see this project moving forward and can’t wait to have this building back to full function for the community,” says Kimmelshue.

Representatives from Kimmelshue’s office report that the engineering and design phases of the Gridley Veterans Memorial Hall project have been completed and the project is currently in the permitting and approval phase. It is hoped that the project will go out for bid at the end of the year, or at latest the beginning of 2023, with work set to begin on the roof in the late spring/summer.  If all goes as planned, our local veterans’ groups should have a viable meeting hall and event venue by the fall of 2023.

Both the American Legion Post 210 and the Warren H. McCutchen (first local death at Pearl Harbor) VFW Post 5731 are planning for the future use of the VMH. Once the repairs are made, they will have new terms of use with veterans’ events being the primary focus. Hopes are to open the VMH to the public for use in the future, but more will be made known when the hall is ready.

Kimmelshue adds, “I am so grateful to live in a community that appreciates the sacrifices of our veterans and their families as much as I do. So much of what I enjoy is owed to them.”