Hard at work on Masonic Hall
2024 Annual Meeting & Report
In this, our 68th year, the Strafford Historical Society is pleased to report that Phase 2 of the renovation of the Masonic Hall in South Strafford is complete and the building’s conversion into the Strafford History and Community Center has begun. Our thanks to Blake Spencer and his crew for strengthening and transforming the interior of the 1901 Masonic Hall and for the addition of a new ADA parking space out front. New structural work from the basement to the ceiling of the first floor is now in place. This work was made possible by a $50,000 grant from the State of Vermont’s Downtown and Village Tax Credit program and by the generosity of you, our donors. If you are interested in learning more about the renovation, please come to our Annual Meeting at 4 p.m., Sunday, October 6th, at the Morrill Library. A visual essay of the interior renovations in progress at the Masonic Hall is readily available in our website Photo Gallery.
Most of this recent work was structural in nature and therefore not visible from the outside, but it has been comprehensive. New support columns were added in the basement along with a vapor barrier beneath a new concrete floor. A drainage system has been installed to keep basement dry and the basement walls are now insulated. It will be the perfect place for storing displays and larger artifacts as well as for spare office furniture.
As for the first floor, the ceiling rafters have all been replaced and a new support beam installed to carry the weight of the second floor. The floor had to be raised and leveled. We now have a structurally sound floor system and a layout which will include a museum/exhibition space, a meeting room, an office, an ADA restroom, and an ADA-compliant entrance through the front door via the new ADA parking space and our new porch deck.
To make the building move-in ready, a new round of fundraising and grant-writing will need to be initiated. We intend to repaint the Masonic Hall’s exterior as we proceed with our landscaping plan, construct a large back deck and create an outdoor meeting space. The new Strafford History and Community Center is coming into focus.
Funding overview
The Historical Society is completing this project in phases, which is allowing us to fund raise and apply for grants to ensure that we do not go into debt for this project. Following is an overview of these phases:
The first phase of our project was to replace the roof and roof structure and replace the heating system with heat pumps. This phase cost $165,000 and was financed by Vermont’s tax credit program ($51,520) through Northfield Savings Bank, the Vermont Arts Council ($18,040), the Mascoma Bank Foundation ($10,000), the Byrne Foundation ($3,000), Strafford’s Newton Fund ($23,500), with the remainder funded by generous private donations.
The second phase of the project has been focused on demolition, internal structural work, including finishing the basement (slab, insulation, doors), leveling the main floor, installation of new doors, and work on the entrance (the front porch, handicap ramp, grading and a granite step). This phase has been financed by Vermont’s tax credit program ($50,000) and generous donations from our community.
The third phase of the project includes interior finish work – including a small kitchenette, ADA compliant bathroom, light fixtures, fire safety and AV equipment. We estimate that this phase of the project will cost about $200,000. We will be applying for a Vermont’s Cultural Facilities Grant, some foundation funding, but will rely again on the generosity of our community to help make this happen.
Not related to the renovation, but in the past year, the Historical Society has also overseen the restoration of 9 boxes of archival material that was damaged in the summer 2023 floods. This material included small diaries, film, and other historic materials (deeds, records, etc.). The restoration of this material was completely covered by grants (about $17,500) as well as significant in-kind contributions from Dartmouth’s library staff.
My thanks to the Strafford Board of Directors and Staff for their dedication to our efforts to renovate the Masonic Hall and resume the mission, on which the organization was founded, “to preserve the sites, objects, and related materials pertaining to the history of the Town of Strafford for the solution and betterment of the current affairs of said Town.”
Stephen Willbanks,
President, Strafford Historical Society
68th Annual Business Meeting
The Strafford Historical Society will convene its Annual Meeting at 4 p.m., Sunday, October 6, 2024, in the Morrill & Harris Library to present its budget and re-elect two Board Members for terms of three years. All Strafford residents are considered members of the Historical Society.
President: Steve Willbanks
Vice President: David Webb
Treasurer: Roberta Robinson
Secretary: Laura Ogden
To Be Elected:
Three-year term: Susan Close
Three-year term: Jared Jenisch
Returning members:
John Dumville, Scott Knoerlein, Earl Ransom
Annually Appointed Staff Positions:
*Curator: Simone Pyle (*Voting Member)
Historians: John Freitag & Arthur Hanchett
Registrar: Carol Wilson
Order of Business
Draft Proceedings of the 67th Annual Meeting
Treasurer’s Report
Board of Directors Elections and Appointments (See above)
Other Business: Updates: renovation, grants, design, landscaping…
Repairing flood damaged documents
Repairing flood-impacted historic documents requires specialist care and collaboration. Discover how.
Here’s what Dartmouth Libraries' preservation staff did to salvage 32 diaries and other materials owned by the Strafford Historical Society at the Justin Morrill Homestead, The floodwaters had encroached upon and created significant damage to many items in storage during the July 2023 flood,
The salvaged diaries and other material were brought to Dartmouth Libraries for frozen storage in the Conservation Lab. Freezing is an important conservation technique. If wet items can’t be aired and dried out immediately, then freezing them is the only option to stop potential mold growth, which can happen in 72 hours from exposure. It took most of the year to stabilize them and decide on the best approach to treat them. The treatment process is vital in saving these items.
Thank you, Dartmouth Libraries' preservation staff!
Recent grant awards
$50,000 grant award - Vermont Downtown and Village Tax Credit
The Strafford Historical Society is pleased to announce that we have been awarded a grant for $50,000 from the State of Vermont’s Downtown and Village Tax Credit Program. This funding will support repair work on the Masonic Hall building in South Strafford, which will soon become the “Strafford Historical and Community Center.” This funding, along with the generous support of many community members, means we are now able to meet our construction goals for this year. Last year we were able to replace the roof and roof structure on the building as well upgrade the building’s heating and air system to an environmentally friendly heat pump system. Blake Spencer will begin work this winter on the interior structural issues from the basement up, insulating the building and installing a vapor barrier in the basement to mitigate the dampness. Later this year, we will begin additional fundraising to support the interior work of the building (including a new ADA compliant bathroom, conference room, and small kitchenette).
Other grant awards
Grant funding for the salvage and repair of historic manuscripts damaged by the July 2023 floods.
The SHS has also received grant funding for the repair of several boxes of historic manuscripts which were damaged when the basement of the Justin Morrill Homestead Education Center flooded. These collections, which include historic diaries and photographs, are now being professionally restored. Thankfully, Simone Pyle, Curator and archivist for the historical society, was also able to dry out and restore all of our photographs that were water-damaged. We are grateful that we did not lose any of our valuable archives in the flood--and that we will soon have a new building to safely store our collections after the Masons’ building is renovated.
The Strafford Historical Society’s main mission is to preserve and make available the town’s historic archives. These include important manuscripts, historic diaries, deeds, thousands of photographs, maps, and other historical collections. During the renovation of our new building, we have had to store our collections. While the majority of our artifacts and furnishings are safe in the storage container in the park and ride lot across from our building (and we are grateful to the town for allowing us to do this), we did have more than a dozen boxes of manuscripts stored in the basement of the Education Center building at the Justin Morrill Homestead. Most of these are now in the attic of the Masonic Hall. Some of our collection, which include historic diaries and photographs, were damaged by flooding in the basement. Currently, the manuscripts which were damaged, as well as some film footage, are in cold storage at the Dartmouth Library or in the hands of the State of Vermont’s Archives and Collections staff. Cold storage basically helps dry out damp manuscripts and prevents them from mildewing. We are grateful for Dartmouth and the State of Vermont’s support, as they have helped us seek grant funding to have those materials restored. We are lucky to not have lost anything of value — and that we will soon have a new building to safely store our collections after the Mason building is renovated.
