Old Town Hall remains hotbed of civic activity
The old Town Hall is becoming the new heart of Berlin.
Vacated by the Board of Selectmen, town clerk, and Police Department when those agencies moved to their modern digs on Linden Street seven years ago, the old Town Hall is now set to receive $35,000 for renovations to expand on its already popular music lessons, theater performances, and Wednesday morning coffee gatherings.
The $35,000 grant, an earmark in last fiscal year's state budget, will ensure the old Town Hall can be used as an emergency shelter. The building already has an electric generator, but two of its 1930s-era bathrooms need to be gutted and replaced to accommodate large groups of people, said Walter Bickford, the Conservation Commission chairman and repair coordinator.
"They're so decrepit, they're impossible to fix," he said.
On Wednesday, the Berlin Zoning Board of Appeals approved the bathroom expansion.
The Board of Health and building inspector must also sign off on the project.
The two-story white clapboard building on the town common was built in 1870 as a memorial to the 24 Berlin residents who died in the Civil War. It has already undergone a year's worth of work that Bickford estimated would have cost taxpayers $150,000 if residents hadn't volunteered time and materials to the effort.
"I left there at 1 o'clock in the morning many a time" after a night of working in the building with neighbors, Bickford said. "I think the Town Hall has brought out the old-style community spirit, people giving and enjoying it."
Resident volunteers and some paid workers have installed a new kitchen, theater lights, and a disabled-accessible restroom. They also spruced up Barnes Hall, a room used for community group meetings.
"People volunteer to keep it clean," said Skip Duggan, who has worked on the building. "My wife does the musical theater. It's her first love."
Over the last year, the building has evolved into an informal arts center. Lessons in instruments from tubas to drums, student productions of Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals and contra dancing events are held there regularly. Neighbors meet there every Wednesday morning for coffee.
The town also wants to rent out the old Town Hall for weddings and other functions so that it might eventually generate enough revenue to fund its own maintenance.
Other work Bickford would like to pursue includes a new foundation, an exterior paint job, and an improved fire alarm system.
The property might help fire prevention in the entire town center.
A 9,000-gallon cistern sits behind the old Town Hall, collecting rainwater from the building's roof. A pipe leads from the cistern to a fire hydrant on the street. The system isn't working now, but Bickford hopes to repair it to give the Fire Department another source of water.
Town historian Barry Eager said the old Town Hall's latest incarnation as an arts and community center is really a continuation of its original purpose. When the 1870 Town Hall first replaced the 1831 Town Hall, he said, all the government offices were located in a single room, leaving plenty of space for other folks.
"Throughout its history, the building has been used for civic events," Eager said. "For plays, dances. The Grange met there. The Scouts met there. All sorts of community activities." 