The renovated town hall building, located at 102 S. Pearl Street in Leesburg.

LEESBURG – It’s back to the future for the oldest town in Kosciusko County.

On Monday night, July 8, Leesburg Town Council will begin holding its meetings at the town hall building, located at 102 S. Pearl St., after several years of using the Plain Township office.

Renovations to make the town hall accessible to all are complete and an open house celebrating the change is set for 6 p.m. Monday when the community will have its first chance to view the changes and enjoy some refreshments.

The town council will have its meeting at 6:30 p.m.

“The building is now ADA compliant and will meet the town’s needs for years to come,” said Leesburg Town Council President Christina Archer. “I am pleased that we preserved this part of our town’s history and created something for the future.”

Town council members first began discussing the need to renovate in 2016 due to the building not being ADA compliant. For several years, town council meetings have been held at the Plain Township offices for the sake of public access.

Council members discussed possible options for the building, including tearing the building down and having a new building constructed; remodeling the current building; or doing nothing, which meant the building could be used for storage purposes but not for any public functions. 

Due to the historical significance of the building, council members agreed that their preference would be to preserve the integrity of the building.

“We didn’t want to put ramps on our historic building, and to build a new property would have been extremely expensive,” Archer said. “Now we have a ground floor meeting room, a new clerk-treasurer’s office and handicapped accessible men’s and women’s restrooms.”

Now that construction crews are finished, work will begin on converting the old part of the town hall into a museum. Leesburg is the oldest town in the county and has an interesting history.

“The goal is to give a glimpse of the people, businesses, churches, schools, organizations and events that have shaped the history of Leesburg,” said Archer. “Local residents may enjoy reminiscing, and visitors can learn about our town.”

Archer said they currently have a collection of photos and memorabilia related to the history of the town, as well as yearbooks from Leesburg School, but would appreciate any contributions of items or photos that current or former Leesburg residents are willing to share.

Although a definite date has not yet been set for the opening of the museum, council members expect to establish some regular hours in the near future as well as additional hours by appointment.