The Webster Township Historical Society recently renovated a landmark structure at Webster Corners in the township and hopes it will again become a premiere gathering place for residents.

Sunday, the Crossroads Community Center at 5501 Webster Church Road will be unveiled to the community during an open house from noon-4 p.m.

Built prior to 1867 by Osbert Williams, said David Calhoun, treasurer of the historical society, the structure was known as the Williams Apple Cider Barn and Winery, which produced a specialty wine that was popular on the East Coast.

“The wine was carted to the railroad station at Delhi and sent out east,” Calhoun said.

The two-story, 2,800-square-foot building, was purchased by the historical society from Webster Church for $1 last December and the members began a $25,000 fundraising campaign to renovate the building, which had sat empty since 1996.

In March, a group of historical society members began the renovations, with Calhoun and Dan Chapman as project leaders.

“People used to hold meetings, dances and receptions there,” Calhoun said.

The Webster Church bought the building in 1925 and converted it into the Webster Congregational Meeting House. The Webster Grange met in the building from 1925 into the 1950s.

“Throughout the week there was activity there,” Calhoun said.

During WWII, he said, the building was used as a Red Cross training center where people learned how to make bandages.

Stage productions and dances were held in the building, but in the 1980s and '90s, the building was used less and less, Calhoun said. The current Township Hall was built in 1996, and the church began to use its basement for gatherings.

The community center sits on a half-acre and it’s near about a dozen other buildings that are owned by the historical society.

With the upgrade, historical board chairwoman Marjorie Smyth said in a press release, the old structure is expected to again be the center of social activity in the Webster community.

In fact, a wedding reception and a family reunion have already been booked for the building, Calhoun said.

“This is a successful community landmark that should be preserved and cherished,” Calhoun said.

Thanks to the efforts of historical society members and several contractors, the first floor meeting room and restrooms were refurbished; a new heating and cooling system was installed; new entrances were added; and a lighting system upgrade and structural work were completed, according to information provided by the historical society.

“The community is looking forward to having a local facility for receptions, reunions, meetings and other events,” said Jack Clark, president of the historical society in a press release.

Lisa Allmendinger is a regional reporter for AnnArbor.com. She can be reached at lisaallmendinger@annarbor.com.