Editor’s note: This is the first in a three-part series examining the significance of the Nehring Cultural and Tourism Center.

The first floor of the Nehring Cultural and Tourism Center, a mainstay of downtown DeKalb for over a century, has undergone the first stage in the building’s restoration, but there’s more work to be done.

This is the first renovation the building, located at 164 E. Lincoln Highway, has undergone in over 50 years, said Dave Emanuelson, executive director of the DeKalb Park District.

The renovation was financed by the DeKalb Park District, which provided a grant of $100,000, and the city of DeKalb, which supplied a grant of $150,000 for the first phase of renovation.

“Here we have two city governments working together to improve the downtown area,” Emanuelson said.

The money was spent constructing a rear entrance, creating a handicap accessible bathroom on the first floor, building a kitchen, repairing a water-damaged wall, electrical work, lighting, painting the interior and carpeting the first floor.

The park district will spend another $100,000 in the next phase of renovations including the installation of a staircase and an elevator in the back.

Eventually, space on the second floor will be open for organizations to rent.

Nehring’s History

Paul A. Nehring was the principal stock owner of the First National Bank in 1967 when it moved to 141 W. Lincoln Highway.

The Nehring-Meier family sold its stock in the bank in 1984 to a holding company chaired by John W. Castle, and First National subsequently changed its name to Castle Bank in June 2000.

Paul M. Nehring , whose widow, Shirley, donated the building to the park district a year ago, bought the bank building from the estate of his father, Paul A. Nehring, who died in 1974 at age 91. Paul M. used the former bank building as storage space for his collection of unusual furniture, including an elk horn chair, said Shirley Nehring and Steve Bigloin, author of “A Journey Through DeKalb County.”

Shirley and her husband’s cousin, Wayne Nehring, spent nine months cleaning out the bank building after her husband’s death in February 1999. She said when she and Wayne got down to the last box, she thought it was full of broken pens and wanted to dispose of it, but Wayne found three gold coins at the bottom.

After the family had cleared out the building, Shirley tried to convince NIU to accept the bank as a donation and convert it into an art museum, Emanuelson said.

However, Mallory M. Simpson, president of the NIU Foundation, stated, “A thorough evaluation was done by university facilities’ personnel to determine what would be necessary to renovate the building for university purposes. Extensive costs would be incurred for renovation and environmental abatement and there was no apparent funding source. Incidentally, an art museum was not an intended purpose. The Museum of Art will return to its home in Altgeld Hall.”

When NIU declined, Shirley offered to donate the building to the DeKalb Park District.

The district board considered the offer for four months before appointing a steering committee composed of representatives of the park district, the city government, NIU and local businesses to investigate the feasibility of the park district accepting the donation and renovating the building.

“Often when organizations accept such donations, they find they cannot afford the maintenance on the buildings,” Emanuelson explained.

The committee vote to accept the donation was dissolved by the district board, and a new standing committee was formed with similar membership to oversee the renovation of the building.

The renovation, the standing committee decided, should be conducted in stages, starting with the first floor.

They concluded the first floor of the old bank lobby should be preserved and the former offices of bank officers should be rented to the DeKalb Chamber of Commerce and Main Street DeKalb Inc.

Main Street DeKalb Inc. is a merchant association similar to the Chamber of Commerce, except all of Main Street’s members are located in downtown DeKalb, while the chamber serves the whole community.

Rena Cotsones, executive director of community relations for NIU, said, “I think it was a great re-use of an old building.”

“It’s a great anchor for a downtown. I think it was a nice creative way for community groups to come together and save the building and provide a home for a couple of key organizations,” she added.