SILVERHILL, Ala. – Officials in Silverhill reported a standing-room only crowd Thursday night at a meeting to discuss the future of the Little Bohemian Hall.

“I am very pleased with the turnout,” said former mayor Frankie Kucera, who is one of those spearheading the drive to have Little Hall moved from its present location at the Silverhill Ball Park and renovated to be used as a museum. “I think everyone there participated in the discussion and was very interested in doing something to help out.”

Kucera said 48 residents signed the registry of attendance for the meeting. One of the main issues was the establishment of a committee to spearhead fundraising efforts and to present a plan to the Silverhill Town Council for renovating the facility.

“I was really pleased with the response,” he said. “Most of the time when you ask people to be on a committee, they sit there with their heads down and don’t respond, but we actually had people standing up saying they wanted to be a part of it. It’s the kind of thing that makes you walk out of a meeting feeling like you’ve accomplished something. It felt good.”

The building was shifted off its foundation and sustained extensive damage during a tornado that struck in Silverhill March 9. The Silverhill Town Council voted at its meeting Monday, May 16 to proceed with plans to build a new structure and plans have been discussed to move Little Hall from its current location and refurbish the structure for use as a museum.

Kucera said another encouraging sign from Thursday’s meeting was that the inclusion of residents with a large age range, including young people in their late 20s to residents up to age 80.

“It’s very encouraging to me that there were a lot of young people interested in saving Little Hall,” he said. Several members of the committee are also in their 20s, he said.

Some donations were garnered at Thursday’s meeting, Kucera said, with promises for more donations and promised to help with fundraising.

“We heard several ideas for fundraising,” he said. “We’re hoping to have a booth set up at Heritage Day (Sept. 17) and are looking forward to doing some other fundraisers in the near future.”

Kucera said everyone involved in the project, including Helen Douglas, Florence Roberts and Mike York, a building contractor, who has provided a detailed plan and estimate of what it would take to rebuild the structure, were pleased with the outcome of the meeting.

Another former Mayor Alan Green, has been in contact with officials from the Czech Republic Consulate, based out of New Orleans. Representatives of the Consulate were present at Thursday’s meeting, Kucera said.

Mayor Tim Wilson said in a previous interview there is also a possibility, since the structure will be used to house historic materials, the town could apply for a $25,000 grant to help pay to have the structure moved and refurbished.