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!

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]

-Bruhn Historic Revitalization Grant [$100,000]

-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!