Description:
Battle Creek Public Schools officials in November 1975 announced their intentions to remodel the former YWCA building into an office and service area for schools. Its new name, Miller-Stone School Services Building, would "recognized those who have made this possible — the Stone family, whose pioneer member, I.L. Stone, gave the funds to erect the building, and the Miller family, which is enabling the district to carry on its programs in the building," Superintendent Jack Mawdsley said in a Nov. 23, 1975, Enquirer and News report. The downtown landmark at the intersection of Capital Avenue Northeast and West Van Buren Street had been vacant since 1973, when the YWCA and YMCA merged to create the Family Y Center. The purchase and renovation was funded by a $375,000 grant from the Albert L. and Louise B. Miller Foundation, with $100,000 going toward the purchase and the balance toward renovations. I.L. Stone and his family in 1913 offered $50,000 for the construction of a YWCA as a memorial to Stones wife, Cordelia. The cornerstone of the building was laid in 1917, and the building dedicated on Feb. 25, 1918.