Town pitches renovation of 1888 Building
By CHRIS LARABEE
Staff Writer
DEERFIELD — With a request for $3.8 million in Community Preservation Act funding on the table, the town made its pitch for the renovation of the 1888 Building to the Community Preservation Committee on Wednesday.
Led by Select Board Chair Tim Hilchey and Planning and Economic Development Coordinator Christopher Dunne, the town laid out its vision to “turn our 19th-century building into a 21st-century municipal office building,” which would serve as a key piece of the South Deerfield revitalization plan.
The $3.8 million in CPA funding would supplement a $4 million congressional earmark the town received this spring, as well as $650,000 in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds, to cover the estimated $8.5 million project, which includes engineering and other costs beyond constr uction.
If the CPA funding is approved at an October special Town Meeting and the project stays on track, Hilchey said it can be completed without any
SEE DEERFIELD A4
With a request for $3.8M CPA grant on the table, Deerfield town officials pitched a revamp of the 1888 Building last week.
STAFF FILE/ PAUL FRANZ
DEERFIELD FROM A3
direct taxpayer money.
“We want to build a project that can be built with the money we have,” he said. “We don’t want to borrow money.”
Broken down, the CPA funds will be used for the historical restoration of the 136year-old structure, which entails the installation of energy- efficient windows, brick repointing, ivy removal, removal of all exterior structures added over the years, repair of the gutters, a “gut renovation” of the first and second floors, and new mechanical components in the basement. The third-floor attic will likely be “largely unchanged,” according to the town’s CPA application.
The $4 million federal grant will be used to construct a new building at the rear of the existing North Main Street structure, which will contain offices, a meeting room and an Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant elevator to serve both buildings. A glass vestibule will connect the new building to the original 1888 portion, which will also be used for municipal offices. Solar panels are planned for the new construction and could provide up to “15% to 20%” of the building’s energy needs, according to Hilchey.
Dunne noted this is the second iteration of plans for the 1888 Building, as the first proved to be too costly for the town — estimated at around $11 million — and the main difference is “not trying to add anything in the thirdstory space or in the basement.”
Amherst-based Kuhn Riddle Architects created the revised plans.
Questions from the Community Preservation Committee were limited — and there was no public comment, as a future public hearing will be scheduled — but member Julie Caswell expressed concern about the proposal of an optional $1 million bonded loan included in the application, which would be available as contingency funds. “Having the proposal come in essentially being clean of this idea of bonding would be a better way to present it,” Caswell said.
While Hilchey and Dunne presented the initial pitch, the Community Preservation Committee’s members expressed interest in hearing from the architects and set up an Aug. 26 meeting to speak with them.
Additionally, the 1888 Building Advisory Committee is expected to plan at least two public information meetings within the next six weeks, according to Hilchey.
Chris Larabee can be reached at clarabee@recorder.com.
