It was built nearly 100 years ago by a breakaway religious order to serve as their church site, but the Lecompton Community Building could see many more decades of use if city officials and community leaders have their way.

The old stone building constructed in 1907 by members of the Radical United Brethren Church needs a little fixing up, however, if its useful life is to be extended.

“Right now we’re in discussion about hiring a structural engineer to take a quick look at it,” said Kathi Fair, president of the Lecompton City Planning Commission.

The planning commission got involved about a month ago after the Lecompton City Council asked whether members were interested in the project.

“We were very interested in it,” Fair said. “It gets a lot of use by the community.”

Taking action to preserve the building is something the council has been thinking about for several months but it had been “on the back burner,” council member Jennifer Jones said.

Shirley Dinkel, Lecompton, a member of the Lecompton Planning Commission, hangs decorations Saturday on the railings of the Lecompton Community Building. The community wants to fix the stone church built in 1907 and is discussing hiring a structural engineer to examine the building.

“It’s important in our historic little town,” Jones said of preserving the building and other historical landmarks in Lecompton.

The Kansas State Historical Society also appears to be interested, Fair said. The state’s involvement could help make certain types of grants more readily available for renovation. It also could lead to certain historical designations.

Although it is no longer used as a church, the building is believed to be the only original Radical United Brethren Church building that exists in Kansas, Fair said.

The building is on a block on Elmore Street that has seen a lot of Kansas history. A short distance to the north is Constitution Hall, where a pro-slavery constitution was drafted in 1857, and to the south is Rowena Park, once the site of the Rowena Hotel, which, during the 1850s, was considered one of the finest hotels in the Midwest territories. A block to the east is the Territorial Capital Museum.

“It would help complement Constitution Hall,” Paul Bahnmaier, Lecompton historian, said of a refurbished, historically recognized building.

The Radical United Brethren broke off from the United Brethren in 1889 in a dispute over an issue in the church constitution. The radicals wanted to stand by a provision in the constitution that prevented church members from joining secret societies such as the Free Masons and the Odd Fellows. Liberal church members wanted to do away with the provision. In Lecompton, the radicals then built their own wood-frame church. That church burned in 1906, leading to the construction of the existing stone building a year later.

Part of the church’s colorful history includes Bishop Milton Wright, father of Wilbur and Orville Wright, ordaining two ministers into the church, Bahnmaier said.

The city purchased the building in the early 1930s, and it served as a combination city hall and community building for years before city offices moved into another building. It continues to be a popular site for wedding receptions, family reunions, meetings and other events.

The obvious signs of needed maintenance include repairing floor joists and replacing the floor, plaster and foundation work and restroom modifications to meet requirements for serving people with disabilities, Fair said. No cost estimates have been made.

“There’s a myriad of community development grants out there, it just depends on what route you want to go,” Fair said.

“We’re a small community, and it isn’t easy to come up with a lot of money,” council member Jones said. “We have to find creative ways to fund it.”