Plans for a new destination to bring people to town are underway at a historic building in Eudora.
Aaron Thakker is buying the Salem Chapel building at 718 Church St. later this month. The building is going to eventually be the ideal getaway to give people a unique experience, he said.
The residence will have a new pool with glass enclosure over the top, a pool table, arcade and bar area. They also plan to have indoor pickleball and basketball and a gym in the basement, Thakker said.
He hopes the location can bring people to Eudora as a place to have winter parties with indoor sports and pool, he said.
Work on the pool installation is expected to start this month, but Thakker estimates the project won’t be done until around Thanksgiving, he said.
Thakker formerly owned The Cottage, another Airbnb in town, but recently sold it to the Stadalmans. That spot is focused on a spa-type feel. The new one will have a different atmosphere so as not to drive customers away from The Cottage, he said. Thakker hopes to partner with the Stadalmans to bring bachelorette parties to The Cottage and bachelor parties to the Church Street property.
The Salem Chapel was organized in 1869 by the area’s German-speaking congregation. Jacob Strobel Sr. and Christine Strobel organized the building’s construction. The family carried water from the Wakarusa River for the brick’s mortar, according to the Eudora History website.
Historical Society Executive Director Ben Terwilliger has previously said church services were offered in German at the Salem Chapel until 1917. The congregation that met at Salem Chapel merged with other Methodist churches in Eudora in the 1950s, he said. As a result, church services were no longer held at the Salem Chapel and the building was converted into a youth center.
More recently, the former church building was sold in 2007 and converted into a private residence.
Corrections have been made to this story. The church is not part of the register of historic places. The history website attribution has also been fixed.
