Future Plans | R A McGraw

Future Community Center

Once the purchase of the property is complete and some of the restoration is done, the Friends of Historic Johns Hopkins House will be opening a community center that will offer a wide variety of programming for adults, children, and families. Plans include the following ideas:

Arts: We hope to develop classes for adults and children. We would like to partner with other local arts centers to develop these classes that will help everyone learn about and create art. Some of this art will be part of arts shows that we host. We also hope to partner with the local adult art clubs and school art clubs for shows.

Sculptures will be added to our restored gardens.

Music: We hope to offer the house for concerts and piano recitals. There will be a variety of genres of music represented.

Of course, Beer Gardens 2.0 will be developed with live music.

Education: There will be a variety of events and activities focused on learning. The arts will be interwoven here too. We will have artists and photographers provide lectures. There will be lectures by local authors who have written for children and adults. With the support of grant money, we hope to develop a free after school tutoring program.

Afternoon Tea: We hope to host afternoon tea each month. Some may be a formal afternoon tea and others might be centered on a fun theme.

Outdoors: Some of the above listed events will take place outdoors. We hope to restore the existing gardens and add things like a butterfly garden, sculptures, and many more trees and flowers. Nature walks will be developed. Our team will work toward getting arboretum status and wildlife refuge certification. We hope that our grounds will become a park where families can come and play even when the house is not open.

History: Some of the lectures will be about local and national history. There will be public lectures about topics such as the history of the Hopkins family and the surrounding community. The house will be restored and decorated to fit the time period between its beginnings in 1780 and up through the mid-1800s. There will be many ways that we will share and honor the history of the property and families who lived and worked on the farm.

Private Events: The house and property will be available to community members who are looking for a historic setting

to hold events such as weddings, meetings, baby and wedding showers, etc.

The cost will be aligned with other rental locations in the area.

We are really excited about the possibility of this community center and developing great programming for your family.