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American Fraternal Union/Ely Community Resource
E. Chapman Properties, LLC
The American Fraternal Union (AFU) building was built in 1933 for a thriving insurance company headquartered in Ely, MN. It had been sitting vacant since the early 2000s when the AFU was bought out by another insurance company in St. Paul. In 2018, a local non-profit organization, Ely Community Resource, needed a new office space. They teamed up with Range Mental Health to share the space. The project was a full make-over including roof, windows, tuck pointing, mechanical systems, electrical and plumbing.
Tap to enlargeA Streamline Moderne Landmark
Buff Kasota limestone walls, 107-inch-tall double-hung windows, an oversized central entrance and Art Deco details throughout. The American Fraternal Union called this building home from 1933 until 2012.
Building details from the 2019 Minnesota Preservation Awards nomination.
- 1898Union founded in Ely by immigrant workers
- 6,919Members by 1908, ten years later
- 107 in.Tall double-hung windows
- 1933–2012Home of the American Fraternal Union
History
The American Fraternal Union began in Ely in 1898 as the South Slavic Catholic Union, founded by immigrants, mostly from eastern Europe. Many members were miners or worked other dangerous jobs and had trouble getting insurance, so for a small weekly fee the union paid a sick benefit and a death benefit.
The need was everywhere. By the end of 1899 there were lodges in Minnesota, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan and Nebraska, and by 1908 the union had 6,919 members. For early immigrants with few resources, high-risk work and no safety net, unions like this one made all the difference.
The union built this stone home office in 1933 and stayed until 2012, when it merged with Catholic United Financial and the Ely office closed. That year the building sold at auction to an owner who planned to sell off the stone exterior and tear it down.
The Project
We bought the building in 2015 and began an authentic restoration in 2018. In the 1970s, to cut costs, the tall windows facing Fourth Avenue and Harvey Street had been replaced with smaller windows with their tops filled in, the ceilings had been lowered and partitions added. Following the Department of the Interior’s guidelines, we returned the building to its original design while making it more efficient.
Custom Marvin windows now fill the original tall openings with insulated low-e glass, the Kasota stone was patched, cleaned and tuckpointed, and the flat roof got R38 foam insulation and a new EPDM roof. Inside, two layers of drop ceiling came out, the original plaster and stamped plaster crown molding were repaired, the Deco doors were stripped back to their original stain, and missing trim was remade with custom tooling. The original safe door was put back to use.
We reframed the open central space and vestibule to the original layout, rewired the building with two new electrical services, added LED lighting, new heating and cooling, ADA bathrooms and a wheelchair lift with accessible parking. Three Ely organizations moved in: Ely Community Resource, the Ely Community Health Center and Range Mental Health.
Built for an Ely Institution
The American Fraternal Union offered life, accident and health insurance and was founded on July 18, 1898. Its handsome stone home office, shown here on a vintage postcard behind an iron fence, still carries the organization’s name carved above the door and a bronze plaque beside the windows.
A Full Make-Over
Inside, the old offices were opened up, the plaster and decorative ceiling details were repaired, new windows went into the original openings, and new mechanical units and skylights went on the roof. Tap any photo to see it larger.
Ready for Ely Community Resource
A bright open office with tall windows, original dark wood wainscoting and quartersawn oak doors, now shared by Ely Community Resource and Range Mental Health.
Special thanks to Kovall Construction for their great work on the AFU project!
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