Delphi Preservation Society awarded Efroymson Fund grant
Comet staff report

Delphi Preservation Society, Inc. was awarded a $7,500 grant from the Efroysom Fund, a Central Indiana Community Foundation Fund, for façade restoration of theAssion-Ruffing City Hall building on the east side of the courthouse square. DPS was nominated for the award by the Western Regional office of the Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana.

The grant will add to the match needed for an $18,375 grant received by DPS from the Historic Preservation Fund of the U.S. Dept. of the Interior National Park Service administered through the Division of Historic Preservation and Archeology of the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. Other matching funds are from the Carroll County Community Foundation and the REMC Operation Round Up program.

Work on the façade of the Assion-Ruffing building has been drawing attention during the summer as the balcony was rebuilt and the cornice repaired and painted in a new paint scheme.Window restoration is underway along with the replacement of a missing section of cornice on the north end of the façade. When all of the restoration work is complete, striped canvas awnings will replace the vinyl, wood shake, and aluminum awnings, which covered the store fronts on the ground level. The façade restoration will be completed soon.

The landmark City Hall structure façade restoration is part of the DPS long-term goal to restore the building and third-floor Opera House as a performing arts venue for Delphi and Carroll County.

The nineteenth-century Opera House once was the entertainment center of Delphi with theater performances, musical events, poetry readings, and other activities held on a regular basis, including several performances by the Hoosier poet JamesWhitcomb Riley.

Contact DPS presidentAnita Werling at (765) 564-2169 for information about the project or the Opera House.