The Turnhalle Building, 900 Rhode Island, is the oldest standing community building in Lawrence. It served as a German-American community center and now has been purchased by the Lawrence Preservation Alliance who will restore the building. .

photo by: Mike Yoder

Dennis Brown, president of the Lawrence Preservation Alliance, which recently purchased and plans to restore the Turnhalle Building, 900 Rhode Island, thinks the building project has a chance to create something dramatic. "We don't know how and we don't know the details yet, but the end game is for this building to be a vibrant part of our community," Brown said, pictured inside the building Thursday, Sept. 26, 2012.

photo by: Mike Yoder

Members of women's chapter of Turnverein, a longtime German club where team members participated in gymnastics classes, are photographed inside the Turnhalle Building in late 1800's. The building at 900 Rhode Island has been purchased by the Lawrence Preservation Alliance who will restore the building.

photo by: Mike Yoder

Members of the Lawrence chapter of Turnverein, a longtime German club where team members between 18 and 30 participated in gymnastics classes, are photographed inside the Turnhalle Building in late 1800's. The building at 900 Rhode Island has been purchased by the Lawrence Preservation Alliance who will restore the building. Seated in middle row at left is Philip Ernst, grandfather of Rod Ernst, owner of Ernst & Son Hardware. Philip Ernst who purchased Turnhalle around 1935..

photo by: Mike Yoder

Members of the Lawrence Preservation Alliance tour the north exterior wall of the Turnhalle Building at 900 Rhode Island, Thursday, Sept. 27, 2012. Currently home to Free State Glass and various other businesses, it has been purchased by the Lawrence Preservation Alliance who will restore the building. .

photo by: Mike Yoder

A dated, but faded keystone reads 1869, above the arch to the entrance to Lawrence Turnhalle at 900 Rhode Island. The building is the oldest standing community building in Lawrence. It served as a German-American community center and now has been purchased by the Lawrence Preservation Alliance who will restore the building. .

photo by: Mike Yoder

Mike Goanz with the Lawrence Preservation Alliance, surveys the interior of the Turnhalle Building at 900 Rhode Island in this 2012 file photo.

photo by: Mike Yoder

The Turnhalle Building, 900 Rhode Island, the stone building at far left, is the oldest standing community building in Lawrence, and just two blocks from the center of downtown. It served as a German-American community center and now has been purchased by the Lawrence Preservation Alliance who will restore the building. .

photo by: Mike Yoder

Touring the second-floor balcony area in the Turnhalle Building, 900 Rhode Island, Thursday, Sept, 26, 2012, from left is Karl Gridley and Mike Goanz, both with the Lawrence Preservation Alliance and Dick Rector of Free State Glass.

photo by: Lawrence Journal-World

Photograph of Turnverein members, in the early 1900s.Caption beneath photograph reads: ."Gesang's" section des turnvereins von Lawrence, Kansas..Top row left to right: Lange, Gerhard, A Thudium, Dinglestet, Krebs, Saile, C. Thudium.Middle Row: Zondler, Below, Weitzencorn, Seifert, C. Hess, Hess.Bottom Row: Schwartz, Hackbarth, Kuhn, Buch, Wiemen, Hammer

photo by: Lawrence Journal-World

Twelve young women wearing loose white ankle-length dresses with an "X" of dark material across their chests and a dark headband. They are believed to be a dance or physical culture class sponsored by the Lawrence Turnverein around 1916..Back row: Ellen Wiedemann, Emma Houk, Marcella Hetzel Arndt, Rosa Albert..Center Row: unidentified, Carrie Heck Schowengerdt, Clara Kasold Rost, unidentified, unidentified, Frances Hackbarth, unidentified and unidentified.