It is impossible for an outfit like Rivendell to survive without some sort of structure. So we have structure...

Rivendell Cooperative was founded on the ashes of the Institute for Mundane Studies. This was due to lots of complex interpersonal things that I can't begin to fathom and that you probably wouldn't be interested in anyway. Suffice to say that the original mortgage for the 622 N. Henry Street property and the Rivendell bylaws were all settled by August of 1977. (Parenthetical remark: observe that this was well before Peter Jackson decided to film the Lord of the Rings.) While the mortgage has long been paid off (and remortgaged several times to finance construction and maintainance projects) the Rivendell bylaws are still active. They are quite well thought out, and worth reading if you think that things like bylaws are fun. The early history is outlined here.

In about 1979, the members of Rivendell decided to colonize --- to start a new cooperative -- called Red Pine. The Central Madison Housing Cooperative (CMHC) was resusitated to be the parent corporation for both Rivendell and Red Pine. After a while, the Red Pine people decided to "go it alone" and so they withdrew, leaving Rivendell with two corporate names. This continues to the present, with CMHC owning Rivendell owning the property at 622 N. Henry Street. For all practical purposes, the two corporations are the same, but we also have a separate set of bylaws for CMHC.

Besides the two sets of bylaws, there is a statement of official policy about the food cooperative that was most recently passed in February of 2004. Here is a copy of the blank form used to record the monthly fire alarm tests.