THE TOPSHAM COMMUNITY HALL RESTORATION PROJECT
In March of 2024, the deed to the West Topsham Community Hall was transferred to the town of Topsham. Since then, efforts have been underway to seek the funding needed to rehabilitate the building. The intention is to return this facility to public use, through environmental remediation, upgrades to essential infrastructure, improvements to heating and energy-system efficiency, and improvements to ADA compliance.
The goal is to do so in a way that does not cost residents a single dollar raised by taxes.
The Select Board recognizes the community’s eagerness to start using the Community Hall again, and we ask for your patience as we move through the regulatory steps required if we are to accomplish our goal of restoring this building at no cost to taxpayers.
As things progress, all updates and notices will be posted here.
Questions? Want to volunteer to help? Want to make a donation to this project?
contact Megan Clark (chair of the Topsham Community Hall Restoration Committee) at email: meganeclark@gmail.com
WANT TO SEE ACTIVITIES AND GATHERINGS HAPPEN THIS SUMMER AT THE COMMUNITY HALL?
CLICK HERE TO MAKE A DONATION TO OUR SUMMER 2025 PORT-A-JOHN FUND!
PLANS FOR THIS SUMMER AT THE WEST TOPSHAM COMMUNITY HALL: WEEKLY ARTS/CRAFTS...BAKING CONTESTS...DUMP-DAY DOUGHNUTS AND COFFEE...MONTHLY THEMED SWAP-MEETS...POTLUCK-PICNICS...AND MORE!
PLANS FOR THIS SUMMER AT THE WEST TOPSHAM COMMUNITY HALL: WEEKLY ARTS/CRAFTS...BAKING CONTESTS...DUMP-DAY DOUGHNUTS AND COFFEE...MONTHLY THEMED SWAP-MEETS...POTLUCK-PICNICS...AND MORE!
OUTLOOK: FUNDING
So far, expenditures on the Community Hall have been minor, and have come out of the $90,000 of ARPA funds designated by the Select Board for use for the Hall. Megan Clark is working closely with the Preservation Trust of Vermont and TRORC to identify potential sources of funding and apply for those grants, to identify necessary regulatory reviews and initiate those processes, and to gather preliminary assessments that will inform the scope of the rehabilitation project itself (energy efficiency, general conditions, etc).
The Town has already been awarded several grants for the preliminary planning steps necessary for the Community Hall project, and in December of 2024, the Town was awarded a MERP grant that will cover the cost of a broad scope of energy-efficiency related improvements at the Community Hall. There are a number of other grants that the town can choose to apply for in the year ahead–our outlook is positive, as this project aligns with State and regional funding priorities and Megan is seeing impressive enthusiasm for this project among State agencies and other grant-making institutions.
So what are the grants we will be applying for in the year ahead?
-CDBG Accessibility Modification Grant [$150,000]
-Vermont Arts Council Cultural Facilities Grant [$30,000]
-Northern Borders Regional Commission Catalyst Grant [$1,000,000]
WE NEED YOUR HELP:
A crucial component of a successful grant application is evidence of local enthusiasm for this project!
Sometimes, that means locally raised funds, sometimes that means volunteers eager to help, sometimes that means people excited to participate in activities at the Hall or to host activities in support of the Hall project. If you are excited, or even just curious about this project, and what the West Topsham Community Hall could become,
REACH OUT! COME ON DOWN! ASK QUESTIONS! SHARE YOUR IDEAS!
TIMELINE OF PROGRESS
October 2023: ESA Phase 1 report completed (this releases the town from federal liability for any environmental contamination)
March 2024: transfer of the deed to the Town of Topsham
Spring/Summer 2024:
-partnership with the Preservation Trust of Vermont
-fire marshal visit (assessment of life safety upgrades needed, and requirements for temporary use permits)
-open house information session
-clean-up bee
-meetings with TRORC, PTV, ACCD, USDA, VCRD, VHCB, DHP, DEC, and more… (these are a mix of planning agencies that are supporting the Town through this entire process, and grantmaking agencies that offered guidance around the regulatory steps that are involved with different grant programs)
-Town of Topsham applied for the Municipal Energy Resilience Program Implementation Grant (huge thanks to Nick Milburn, Topsham’s Energy Coordinator, and Harry Falconer at TRORC)
-Town of Topsham applied for and approved for Rural Economic Development Initiative (REDI) grant [$7500] to cover partial cost of Architect/Engineer project design
-Town of Topsham applied for and has conditional approval for VHCB Feasibility Fund grant [$10,000] to cover partial cost of Architect/Engineer project design
Autumn 2024/ Winter 2025:
-Town of Topsham was awarded MERP Implementation Grant [$426,000]
-General Conditions Assessment conducted by Studio Nexus, half of cost covered by Robert Sincerbeaux Fund grant via the Preservation Trust of Vermont CLICK HERE FOR THE REPORT
-required Architectural Historian consultation conducted by Polly Allen, cost covered in full by Preservation Trust of Vermont (MTAP funds) CLICK HERE FOR THE REPORT
-Brownfields Phase 2 and BRELLA enrollment: underway, all costs to be handled by TRORC
-we requested a number of amendments to the scope of work covered by the MERP grant, and they approved all of them! CLICK HERE FOR THE AMENDED GRANT AGREEMENT
-we have been approved for a larger than expected REDI grant to help cover the cost of architect and engineer services AND to pay for expert grant-writing support for the NBRC Catalyst Grant; we expect to get final approval very soon for a Feasibility Fund Grant from the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board, which will also help us cover the cost of architect and engineer services.
-the State Historian has determined that the Topsham Community Hall is eligible for listing on the NATIONAL Registry of Historic Buildings!! This is a really big deal!!! CLICK HERE FOR THE REPORT
SPRING/SUMMER 2025:
We have arranged for a Port-a-john to be on site from June 1 through the end of September, so we can hold limited open-to-the-public activities this summer and early Fall!
This will cost around $1000, and we hope to have community help raising these funds during the events at the Hall this summer! Every dollar helps us cover this cost! Please consider helping out however you are able- do you make a FAAANTASTIC carrot cake? Maybe donate one to a bake sale fundraiser! Do you have a coffee can full of change that has been sitting around for years? Maybe cash it out and donate you get! Are you a persuasive guy with an empty wallet? Encourage other folks to drop off a donation during Dump Day Doughnuts!
-At Town Meeting Day, voters approved the establishment of a Topsham Community Hall Reserve Fund- hooray!
-Brownfields environmental contamination testing plan and implementation is underway! (this is an unpredictable process, time-wise. That said, we had a great a site visit with Alan Liptak of LE Environmental on April 3rd- we are hoping for this to be completed by late Autumn 2025)
-Environmental Review is underway (required review of planned work from environmental contamination and historical preservation perspectives): the goal is to have this application as far along as possible, so that as soon as we receive the go-ahead re: Brownfields, we can get the ER ‘release’ and then we will be shovel-ready!
-RFP and contract for Architect and Engineer (A&E) services (this will include everything from schematic drawings to construction oversight and management)
-Megan has been in touch with the Green Mountain Economic Development Corporation, and will submit this project to them for inclusion on the Regional Priority Project list: this gives us a huuuuuge advantage in grant competitions!