217 Chestnut, Virginia, MN
In March of 2023, we purchased a dilapidated building on the main street of Virginia. Our hope is to renovate this building to become the future home of our thrift store, as well as the base of operations for a variety of social service works.
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The following update was posted in October, 2023:
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The renovation project is moving so much faster than I hoped it would . . . and so much slower than I want it to. I am not a patient man. I want to be housing the displaced of Virginia immediately, but the people around me keep stalling progress with petty concerns like “Shouldn't we fix the leaky roof first?” or “Don't we need indoor plumbing?” or “Isn't that a load-bearing wall that you are trying to knock down to make room for the tilapia farm?” or “Do we really need a tilapia farm?”
As the saying goes, “There are old mushroom hunters, and there are bold mushroom hunters. But there are no old, bold mushroom hunters.” Admittedly, my approach to renovation is a little “bold.” Thank God for the annoying people around me, able to do all the work and willing to pump the brakes, so that the building does not collapse on us all. Anyway, here is what they have been able to accomplish so far:
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-We have effectively evicted all the tenants that had been nesting in the upstairs apartments. Like many other Virginia landlords, we are now cleaning up the droppings left behind.
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-By the grace of God, and the will of Virginia Public Utilities, we were able to get the power on. Shortly afterwards a guy from a church in Fargo who had heard about our mission came out to wire much of our building and hang lights. Now that we have lighting, I can clearly see what a dump I purchased.
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-We were able to repair much of the roof. I am told that the roof needs to be replaced, not repaired. One roofer quoted me a price of $100,000 but assured me that the roof would last me the rest of my life. For far less money I can build my own airplane from scratch and still have a roof that will last me the rest of my life.
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-Thanks to the fantastic people at Approve Plumbing, we got the water turned on. For the past year or so they have done a lot of work for us and have yet to send us a bill. I would recommend you hire them for all your plumbing needs. . . but I also kind of want them to have time to put in our bathroom.
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-We painted the mezzanine floor. I understand that this is far from a priority. But as someone who moves a lot of furniture, I wanted to have a place where I can set a couch and let it be. Sometimes, I go up in the mezzanine and just quietly watch the furniture not go anywhere.
Again, we thank you all for your help and interest! I have included a picture of the 8 square feet of finished building. Only 15, 992 square feet to go!
