Like so many others who grew up here, Dave Grieve, a member of the MHS class of 1982, graduated from high school, went to MCC and Iowa State and moved to a bigger city to pursue a career opportunity — in his case, it was Los Angeles and then Wichita, Kan., where he spent about 30 years in the aviation industry. But Marshalltown always held a special place in his heart, so much so that he decided to “boomerang” back a few years ago and invest in a historic downtown building constructed in 1890.

Some may know Grieve as the new owner of Doo Dah’s, the iconic breakfast and lunch diner at 128 E. Main St., but his bigger and much more time consuming dream is to turn the upper floors of the building that once housed one of two local chapters of the Odd Fellows fraternal order into a hub for the performing arts in Marshalltown, with the possibilities of live musical performances, practice space for bands, a soundstage for film and television production, a recording studio and even a permanent home for Marshalltown Community Theatre (MCT) all being floated.

“I bought the building because I kind of fell in love with this room and what the Odd Fellows stand for, which is friendship, love and truth,” he said.

With a stage already in place, a ballroom and an upper level balcony above it, Grieve estimates that it could hold between 100 and 150 people depending on the type of show. But he’s also well aware that he’s got a long ways to go: he’ll need to install a freight elevator and a passenger elevator, refurbish the interior, bring the building up to code with a modern fire escape and, if he wants to host MCT, the stage will need to be expanded backward by about 40 feet.

The Odd Fellows once boasted as many as 1,800 members locally around the turn of the 20th century, but the number has dwindled down to about five living holdouts who have opted to let it “die out.” The hall closed its doors in 1988 due to a lack of participation from the younger generations.

“To restart the Odd Fellows fraternal order would take 15 people, which is a little bit of a heavy order at this point, but I think the building still has a story to tell. It was built at a time when the town was growing and building, and they always had arts and culture back in those days,” he said. “They used to hold some recitals up here. I’ve heard from local people on Facebook and stuff (that they had) potlucks and that kind of stuff. But this (third floor ballroom) was more of their ritual room, and it wasn’t really always open to the public. But I think this would be a great venue for local artist shows, community theater, recording… downstairs, on the second floor, I could see having an editing room and people want to pay to edit what they’ve already recorded, kind of make it a music and theater haven.”

He did add, however, that relaunching a local chapter is still a long-term goal as he finds inspiration in their founding principles — “America needs more of that these days,” Grieve said of the order whose famous members once included Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, Ulysses S. Grant, Charles Lindbergh, Wyatt Earp, Georgia Dwelle (the first female African-American physician), Lucy Hobbs Tayor (the first female dentist), Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren and comedians Red Skelton and Charlie Chaplin.

In Wichita, a former Odd Fellows hall was converted into a successful wedding venue and a corporate events center, but Grieve said he doesn’t want to compete with existing businesses that fill those needs in Marshalltown and wants to keep his facility focused on the arts.

“There’s just so much local talent here. They need a place to play, (and) they need a place to record,” he said.

Although he has big dreams for the hall, Grieve isn’t neglecting Doo Dah’s as he has hopes to grow the restaurant and add kitchen space and seating in the future. He’s working with city officials to coordinate on his plans, especially considering the looming reconstruction of Main Street, and while there’s no firm timeline in place right now, he hopes to have “a solid design plan that can be executed” within a year while figuring out the sprinkler and water situation.

“Let’s just say it’s not gonna be a super high revenue generator, so you have to watch your costs. (But) it’s a passion project. It really is. Like I said, this little town, I’ve always loved this little town, grew up here. I didn’t get here until the fourth grade, and it still has a lot of the same vibe it had 40 or 45 years ago,” Grieve said. “Time moves on. Things have changed, but there are just a lot of good people. There’s a lot of good vibes going on, and I don’t want to sound odd, but the tornado and even the derecho provided some opportunity for this town that it desperately needed to revitalize and rethink its progress. And I’m tickled pink with some of the progress downtown. It’s just beautiful.”

While he still makes trips back to Kansas and still owns a shop there for the time being (he’s looking for space in central Iowa, if anyone has a lead), Grieve is interested in offering tours for those who are interested in learning more about the building itself and the history of the Odd Fellows. And while his primary activity in the hall currently consists of running a generator and plugging in his electric guitar to test the acoustics of the room, he’s looking forward to showing off the progress in the months and years to come.

“It’s just a matter of getting the idea on paper and getting it done,” Grieve said. “I hit 60 this year, and I figure I’ve got one more good project in me. It might as well be this one.”