Standing in the thick of overgrown shrubbery and vines, Delafield resident James Beason gave the exterior of 144 Garvin Lane a long look – his gaze followed the house’s features from the roof to the windows and down the front steps – as Martha Deputy and Ryan Schwank talked about original brick in the fireplace that once was inside the home.

“It looks like it’s in very good shape,” Beason said with a slight smile.

Several board members of the Delafield Neighborhood Association toured the grounds of the home Thursday evening after agreeing earlier in the day to accept the donation of the property by local residents Judy and William Schwank.

“I just found out about it this morning,” said Audrey Spinks, chairperson of the Delafield Neighborhood Association Board. “And the board had to move fast to give their approval to accept the donation.”

Ryan Schwank, representing his parents, who are the donors, was there to walk the board members through and around the property.

William Schwank, a neurosurgeon in Bowling Green with Western Kentucky Orthopaedic and Neurosurgical Associates, and Judy Schwank, a local attorney and founder of the nonprofit organizations Children’s Aid Missions International, which provides aid to children in South America, and Mi Vida, a foster child placement agency in Bowling Green, have lived in the area since the 1980s.

Judy Schwank, a native of Bowling Green, bought the property in 1992 during an auction and used it for rental purposes. However, “massively destructive” tenants damaged the home, and the Schwanks came to realize it wasn’t worth remodeling as rental property, Ryan Schwank said.

He said as his parents worked through their retirement plan, noting the properties they owned, they decided it was better to donate the property – which has been vacant for about seven years – to charity than to leave it abandoned.

“My parents do quite a lot in charitable work, and this continues that work … it made sense to donate,” he said.

Ryan Schwank said he first approached Abraham Williams, executive director of the Housing Authority of Bowling Green, on his parents’ behalf about acquiring the property. He said although the housing authority was receptive to the donation, the Delafield board was enthusiastic about it. So when Ryan Schwank mentioned giving the property to Delafield, Williams backed the suggestion.

Discussion between the Schwanks and Deputy, secretary of the neighborhood association, to gain the property started Wednesday, Ryan Schwank said. All that remains is to file the necessary paperwork with the county clerk’s office.

“We felt they had better use for it,” he said of the Delafield community. “This is going to be a big project for them.”

The 1,600-square-foot property, which sits on a half acre, was appraised at $30,000. The home was built in the 1890s with tulip poplar wood, which was not commercially used after 1910, Ryan Schwank said. He said he believes the house was a “catalog home,” which were ready-to-assemble houses sold through mail order by Sears Roebuck and Co., and was once a school for black students.

Now, with the inside gutted, all that remains is a shell indicating where walls and flooring once was. But for members of the Delafield board, the emptiness of 144 Garvin Lane inspires multiple possibilities, such as using it as a community center and meeting house, which Ryan Schwank suggested.

“It has a lot of potential,” said Audrey Spinks, nodding. “It is in better condition than we thought. We thought we were going to have to tear it down and use the area as some type of nature spot, but we may be able to use it as a museum.”

Spinks said if the property is used as a museum, it could display pictures Deputy has of the Delafield community and Bowling Green stretching back to the early 1940s and ’50s, along with other items that tell the community’s history.

“Delafield has a long history. It use to be the hub of industry in Bowling Green. It used to be a part of the working Bowling Green, with Union Underwear and PET Milk Company,” she said. “There were a lot of factories here and goods bought in by boat off the river.

“And we think (acquiring this land) is wonderful. We know it will be protected, and hopefully it will be a place people will enjoy coming to.”

The use of the building has to be unanimously agreed upon by the board. Deputy said it might take anywhere from six months to a year to figure out its use, and the decision would be based on what the association can afford to do with the land. Spinks said they will try to finalize, or at least narrow down, ideas during its January meeting.

“Having this property can be beneficial to this community,” said Monica Beason, a board member along with her husband, James. “The Delafield area is an area that has been cast aside, and this is something that could put us on the map as an attraction in the area.”