Once a Long-Ago House of Worship, the Haddon Fortnightly Building Serves the 21st Century

Eighty years ago, a local women’s club paid $19,679.05 for a grand building at the corner of Kings Highway and Grove Street.

It was a princely sum during the Great Depression, but the women of the Haddon Fortnightly – who met every two weeks – needed more space to do their good works.

“The women had their husbands sign promissory notes to buy the building, and that was considered the mortgage,” said Sonia DeFelicis, the club’s historian, past president and chairman of the trustees, a group responsible for the building.

The building is one of the borough’s most distinctive, featuring tall columns inside and out. The mid-19^th century structure looks so different, in part, because of its past. Before it was a handsome club house, it was a house of worship for local Methodists. The faithful would move to Warwick Road.

In between the Methodists and the Fortnightly, several community groups owned the building. A cultural group renamed it Artisans’ Hall and removed the church steeple. The club women added the front portico with the distinctive exterior columns. They finished off the downstairs and added a kitchen.

The Haddon Fortnightly is a dual entity. It’s a civic and social club that, for example, raises money for various charities, like a South Jersey veterans’ home, and hosts a Home and Garden Tour. This year the tour, a fundraiser, is Friday, May 6 from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. (Tickets available at the Visitors’ Center and library.).

The Haddon Fortnightly is also the group’s impressive club house. Now on the national and state registries of historic places, the building is both a source of pride and a responsibility. Old buildings require constant upkeep and renovation, and normal maintenance alone on this structure runs $50,000, said DeFelicis.

“I was told the last thing people want to raise money for is an old building, and it’s true,” said DeFelicis. Many of the women in the past who might have joined the club and raised funds for both the building and the group’s charities are now busy juggling careers, as well as children. Membership, once a robust 500, now is 300 or fewer, says DeFelicis.

Still, the women familiar with the club house know its charms. It boasts huge windows and light-filled spaces, attractive features for those planning a special event.

“It looks so nice when it’s set for a wedding, reception or some affair,” said DeFelicis. The downstairs space, with its polished wood floors, has 12 brass chandeliers, wall sconces and ridged columns.

You approach the big room through an elegant foyer.

“I like the wow factor when you walk through those doors,” said DeFelicis. “Just picture it with round tables and (table)cloths.”

Upstairs, there is an auditorium with a stage with velvety curtains and a balcony with vintage wood chairs and a wrought-iron railing depicting the lyre.

Either space can serve as areas for events; the downstairs area has a stage, too. Of course, members also meet in the club house. There is also a tea room and a large, commercial kitchen; some may view the kitchen as somewhat dated in style, but far above the floor there are clerestory windows to let in natural light.

DeFelicis is fond of the century-and-a-half-old, brick and stucco building, and the women who call it their own.

“I’m very proud of the way the women have maintained it,” she said. The club membership, which draws from throughout South Jersey, is mainly older. Clearly, DeFelicis worries about a new generation of women failing to replace their older sisters, younger women who may not feel the need to participate in charity work and socialize at a club house.

“They’re involved with their own lives,” said DeFelicis.

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