BOONE, Iowa—A long effort to try and re-establish a homeless shelter at Crawford Hall in Boone is drawing to an end.  The Cornerstone Church of Ames issued a press release today, explaining the difficulties that were faced in their efforts to make use of Crawford Hall.  The release says teams from Cornerstone and Stonebridge Churches have investigated many possibilities, before deciding to sell the property.

According to the press release:

Crawford Hall has long been a staple in the community of Boone. As a seminary dormitory, radio station, and transitional shelter, Crawford Hall has been a blessing to the community of Boone for many years.

In 2015, Crawford Hall transitioned ownership from Boone Biblical Memorial Church to Cornerstone Church of Ames. Also, a part of this transition was the All for Jesus and church building, which has now become the home for Stonebridge Church.

In 2016 the Crawford Hall Transitional Living Program board decided to end the transitional living program at Crawford Hall. This was a highly challenging program to run and it was determined that the best step for Boone and Crawford Hall would be to have an experienced organization run the program at Crawford Hall. The program officially ended on July 2017.

For the past 3 years, the Cornerstone and Stonebridge teams have searched for experienced homeless/transitional organizations to make good use of Crawford Hall. Multiple organizations were contacted. A few showed interest, but none were able to commit due to the large scope of the project and fit for the organization’s needs.

Throughout the process, some local individuals and churches communicated interest in using Crawford Hall. While these plans were considered, the need for an experienced organization as a foundational principle in the search was affirmed.

Throughout the 3 years of searching for organizations, many costs were incurred for upkeeping the building by Cornerstone, the need for an experienced organization with significant financial resources became apparent, and the costs for renovation and upkeep increased as more needs were discovered.

In May 2019 the Cornerstone and Stonebridge teams were approached by a developer about turning Crawford Hall into an apartment building. Because of the roadblocks mentioned above, the team determined that this was the best route to go for the building, the community, and Cornerstone and Stonebridge churches.

The offer letter from the developer was signed in August 2019 and the ownership of the building will be transitioned in October 2019. Proceeds from the sale of Crawford Hall will go towards community development with a hope to focus on local homeless work in Boone through established organizations.

(contributed press release)