A Little History
This year is the 245th birthday of our Township whose charter was granted to Gershom Beach and 65 other “associates” on March 14, 1780. For more than half of these 245 years, the Town Hall building has stood at the center of our community in the Historic District on Holden Road. Serving as the district #5 school after it was built in the 1890s until Barstow School opened in the early 1930s, it has also been the town clerk’s office and a meeting hall for official and nonofficial town gatherings right up to the COVID epidemic of the early 2020s.
We have enjoyed very good use out of this old building with relatively little investment in its maintenance. In 1998, a comprehensive plan was put forth for “the continuation of the upkeep of the structure including planning for the future by improving handicap accessibility, maximizing space for the Historical Society, and upgrading the mechanical and fire protection systems.”
Charles A. Parker was the author of the report after his site visit to the Chittenden Town Hall on December 19, 1997. His work was funded, in part, by the Preservation Trust of Vermont. Following a four-page account detailing the foundation, frame, interior, exterior, and roofing of the building’s then current condition, he proposed a prioritized list of three phases of repair and their estimated 1998 cost which totaled $114,600.00 (in 1998 dollars).
In the years since the Parker report, only a few significant improvements have been made. The windows on the ground floor and the three gable windows in the attic half story have been replaced. The building’s exterior got a double coat of paint which helped seal in the original 2nd story windows until such time as they might also see replacement.
Friends of the Town Hall
A small group of Historical Society volunteers got together to form “Friends of the Town Hall.” Their goal is to insure the stabilization of maintenance of the Town Hall, have it brought up to code, and made available again for the use of the Town’s people. The Historical Society members voted at our Fall 2024 meeting to support these goals and to channel any grant money through our 501c3.
The Friends of the Town Hall (FotTH), under the leadership of Laurie Wilson, has sought permission to accept grants that would be put toward the Town Hall improvements. They also brought up concerns to the Select Board about the lack of heating and ventilation adding to some mold growth.
