LAWRENCE - As Marilyn Kopacz watched the flames roar from the roof of 42 Park St. last Sunday night, she talked like somebody who had just lost a family member.

"My father was born the year that building was built," said the 78-year-old woman while witnessing the death of Turn Hall, a century-old Lawrence landmark that she has lived next door to for more than 40 years.

"Three generations of my family did gymnastics in that building. We lived in Turn Hall at one time when my husband was houseman," she said.

Turn Hall, also known as Turn Verein Hall and Turner Hall, opened at the Park Street address in 1896 - not 1866, as the numbers on the front of the brick-walled three story building suggest, and some fire officials told me as I was covering the fire story.

The 1866 stands for the date that Turn Verein permanently organized in the city. From 1896 - the year that Kopacz's father, Herman A. Schneider, was born - to about 1975, this majestic building was the local home of the American Turners. They are a national organization born in Cincinnati by German immigrants in 1848 that ascribes to the motto "A sound mind in a sound body."

For years, the Turners have encouraged American citizens of all ages to be physically active. They organize national competitions in various sports, specializing in gymnastics. And for many Lawrencians spanning several generations, Turn Hall was an important fabric of social and cultural life, not just for the city's German community.

There were a multitude of activities that made Turn Hall a popular draw for Lawrencians. Kopacz and her daughter Ann Marie (Kopacz) Meile, 58, Methuen, met with me for two hours over coffee last week to share the story that few newcomers to Lawrence over the last three decades know much about.

People who aren't familiar with the rich life of Turn Verein in Lawrence probably only know the recent history - of an old, vacant hulk of a building that stands as an unsafe fire trap and a makeshift shelter for homeless.

They may have heard that the place was at one point used by the Boys Club and was also a house of worship. It held Latin Masses for St. John's Chapel.

"A lot of people don't know what the building was built for and what went on there," Kopacz tells me as she drinks her coffee.

"During World War II, there were Saturday night dances. The dance floor had springs in it, so your legs really didn't get tired. It was a social place. It was family-oriented, in those days before TV," she said.

Lawrencians could go to Turn Hall to amble up to the bar with friends, to bring the kids for an Easter egg hunt or Sunday picnic, watch a minstrel show, to attend a private party or public function, listen to jazz bands on the third floor and even play a game of 45s.

Meile said she remembers "the double-decker tables," featuring there were shelves to hold the glasses underneath so the playing cards wouldn't get wet.

She also recalls the Big Band music that she and her sisters heard from their bedroom at night.

"It was kind of special ... living in there was kind of an adventure," said Meile, who has prepared an oral history recounting the years 1959-1965 when she and her family lived in the building. The Lawrence History Center plans to post excerpts of her account on its Web site as part of efforts to chronicle the history of the 110-year-old building.

"The fondest memory for me was having family together in one place. My father used to work long hours as a truck driver," Meile said.

"Here, we got to spend a lot of time together. Having this building burn in a fire is such a big loss for us, because it was such a big part of our lives for so long," she said.

When Kopacz's husband, Raymond, was houseman at Turn Hall, she could be a working mom without having to worry about who was taking care of the children.

"When we lived in there, I had my oldest son, Andrew, who is now a mailman in Sarasota," said Kopacz, who raised four daughters and three sons.

"I tended bar and used to do sandwiches. And in the afternoons, I had him by my side in his little jumper suit when I worked in the bar. They always called him 'the Turn Hall baby.' He was born in 1959, and that was his first home," she said.

Kopacz's father - Herman A. Schneider - tended bar in Turn Hall on Saturday nights during the '40s and also competed on the gymnastics and bowling teams. There were two candlepin bowling alleys, with no room for spectators, except for cutout areas in the bar area overlooking them.

As bad as they felt about last week's burning of Turn Hall, Kopacz and Meile sensed the end was inevitable, especially after seeing a gasoline can sitting inside the gymnasium a few years ago and witnessing the easy access that trespassers had. There had even been talk of knocking the building down, she recalled.

"I felt it was an accident waiting to happen because it had been neglected for all these years," Kopacz said.

But fires can't destroy good memories. And the Kopacz family has good memories galore here.

Meile said the emotional blow was softened by having gotten a tour of the old hall after it had fallen into disrepair. Many of the valuable furnishings and fixtures had been stripped. She could hardly recognize it with all the debris.

"To see the soul of it was gone makes it a little easier now. It wasn't the same place," she said.

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Staff writer Mark E. Vogler writes Milling Around each week for the Sunday Eagle-Tribune. He can be reached at 978-946-2291 or mvogler@eagletribune.com.

Hunting for Turn Hall History

Just the day after the Turn Hall burned, the Lawrence History Center began compiling a book of memories on its Web site as a lasting tribute to the century-old landmark. It's looking for the public's help to gather history about the building from people with firsthand insight.

What: Seeking stories, memories and photographs.

How to help: Send them to research@lawrencehistory.org so they can be added to the Turn Verein Web Book.

For more details: go to www.lawrencehistory.org/exhibits/turnhall or call 9780686-9230. Or you can drop by the center at 6 Essex St. in Lawrence.