A crew from High Point Roofing works on replacing the roof of the War Memorial Building on Friday afternoon. Tabitha Johnston

SHEPHERDSTOWN — Last Wednesday morning, a crew of workmen from High Point Roofing began replacing the roof of the War Memorial Building (WMB), which is owned by the Shepherdstown Community Club (SCC). The project was completed on Saturday.

This roofing replacement, according SCC President Jennifer Wabnitz, was the final stage of renovations that were slated to be completed on the historic building this summer, with $100,000 in funds from the Raise the Roof Capital Campaign.

“We’ve already finished the new alarm system. What’s kind of cool about this alarm system, is it will call the fire department for us. We thought it would be a good safety measure,” Wabnitz said. “So, if someone is here and the building catches fire, they can call 911, but if it catches fire and we’re not here, help will still come.”

This new system was installed at the same time as the building’s electrical wiring was replaced in May. Also replaced were

“We replaced a lot of faulty wiring. It was really tricky to do, because it looked like every decade they added something else. We even had cloth wiring, where they had used cloth as an insulator around bundles of wires — very scary,” Wabnitz said, noting some plugs in the WMB kitchen were particularly unsafe. “Invariably, people come in and plug in a kettle and crockpot and this and that — it was just a tragedy waiting to happen!”

South King Street is blocked to traffic, as workmen replace the roof of the War Memorial Building up the street on Friday afternoon. Tabitha Johnston

New smoke and fire detectors were also installed with the remaining funds from the campaign.

In the future, Wabnitz said the club hopes to raise more funds, through grant funding and donations, to complete other necessary repairs on the building.

“Our next project is going to be the foundation. Where Town Run goes right beside our building and goes underneath the popcorn shop, we need to reinforce some of that underneath there,” Wabnitz said of Mountaineer Popcorn Company’s storefront, which is part of the War Memorial Building. “Unfortunately, we have to get the grant money first, and the grant cycle doesn’t start until September. So, once they tell us that we have the money, we will do more fundraising and get the rest of the money we will need put together like we did last time.

“After the foundation, we really want to reglaze the windows. If you stand in front of those windows, you can feel the breeze going by!” Wabnitz said, mentioning the window frames are original to the building. “Energy costs us so much money! Especially because our walks are concrete and take forever to heat up.”

Following those repairs, Wabnitz said she believes the project of greatest importance will be the renovation of the building’s bathrooms, which were installed in the 1970s and have not been improved since.

“We have a fantastic treasurer, Karen Kinnett, who has a way of taking a pot of money and multiplying it! She’s been fantastic — our most valuable treasurer,” Wabnitz said. “With a project like ours that cost $100,000, you need to have that money before you start the project. You can’t hope that it will just come along.”

Keeping the building in good repair is essential to the community, Wabnitz said, as it is a frequently used for art exhibits, craft fairs, antique shows, the Speak Story Series, high school banquets and local meetings.