TOWN OF RIVER FALLS – After an emergency River Falls Town Board meeting Oct. 7, the board voted to close the 125-year-old town hall effective Oct. 8, 2026 due to an unsafe floor.

A notice posted on the door, on the township website and on social media said the emergency is due to a “structural insufficiency, rendering the facility unavailable for use as a polling place for the foreseeable future.

All electors assigned to vote at the River Falls Town Hall polling place will be able to vote at the Unitarian Universalist Society down the road, located at N8101 State Road 65.

" We do plan to have someone stationed at the town hall on election day to redirect voters, so they get to the correct place," said Town Clerk Sarah Meyer.

Town Chair Terry Kusilek wrote a statement about the closure, posted on the town website.

“It makes us all sad that we had to close our Town Hall, but resident and employee safety must come first,” he wrote.

He and Zoning Administrator Don Rodewald were considering adding support beams to the town hall’s flooring system. He said the floor had become “quite bouncy” when walking in the building. While in the basement looking at their options, Rodewald grabbed a floor joist, which Kusilek described as severely dry-rotted and fell apart.

“We immediately called a local commercial construction company we have worked with before,” Kusilek wrote. “They arrived the next day and inspected the floor system; they determined it was compromised.”

They decided to bring in a structural engineer, who deemed the building unusable due to rotted floor joists, support beams and support posts.

Town Clerk Sarah Meyer contacted the Unitarian Universalist Society to see if they would allow the town to use its building for meetings and voting, to which they agreed.

Kusilek said the larger space and parking lot will make voting easier for residents.

“It will take us a couple of days to get organized and items moved to the new facility,” Kusilek wrote. “Please be patient while this takes place. We will do our best to get this completed as quickly as possible.”

He added that discovering the floor problem before the election was lucky.

“It is a very real possibility the floor could have failed during the election process with all the extra weight in the building that takes place during election day.”

It’s unclear if the town is planning to fix the floor or what options it’s considering.

"We have not gotten an estimate for fixing the floors but know that it will be a substantial project and will not be inexpensive. At this time, the board and staff are focused on getting moved and ready, so we are ready for election day," Meyer said.

According to township records, researched by Janet Huppert and gleaned from “Pierce County’s Heritage, Vol. 7” by Ursula Peterson, the Randall School was established in 1867. It was called a “Yankee School.”

“The chairman of the school board was Calvin Randall. In 1867 the total cost to operate the school was $200. Of that amount the teacher, Amanda Elliott, received $120,” the history states.

“A new school house (the present town hall) was built in 1901. Rob Johnson was to be paid $1287 to build the structure 26 feet wide, 46 feet deep and 12 feet high. The building was heated by a wood burning furnace.

“In 1960 the Randall School District was consolidated with the River Falls School District. At the annual town meeting on April 5, 1960, 51 votes were cast as to whether Town residents should purchase the school to use as a town hall. There were 37 votes yes, 11 votes no, and 3 blank ballots. That same year Town residents paid $500 for the school and the two acres of land.

Since that time the Town has added wheel chair access, steel siding, a new roof and, in 2001, a gas furnace to the building.”

Questions regarding this polling place relocation may be directed to the Town Clerk's Office at 715-629-8240 or clerk@riverfallstown.com, or to Kusilek at 715-821-4049.