ENFIELD — Town officials hope a recent infusion of grant money will aid their search for a contractor to repair Enfield’s nearly 175-year-old Center Town House.
The town issued a request for proposals last week seeking services to “stabilize and perform structural repairs” on the building, which dates to 1845 and served as Enfield’s first town hall.
“The solicited work on the building is the first phase of what is hoped to be a complete restoration of the building to bring it up to 21st Century standards and once again put the building back in public use,” said a listing on the New Hampshire Municipal Association’s website.
Selectboard member Meredith Smith said the work will be funded through a $10,000 grant recently received through the state’s Moose Plate program.
The money will be combined with an earlier $10,000 grant for an overall budget of $20,000, she said.
“With these two grants, we hope to at least stabilize the building until enough money can be raised probably through private sources and grants to put the building back to full use,” Smith, who chairs the town’s Heritage Commission, said on Monday.
The Center Town House, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places two years ago, served as Enfield’s town hall from 1845 to 1916. It was moved to its current location on Route 4A in 1859 and was renovated into a social hall in 1909.
Functions were held there until Old Home Day in 2015 when the attendees of an annual dance found that a corner of the floor was “spongy,” Smith said. An engineering firm later found the space unsafe for occupancy.
Timothy Schaal, a Wilder-based structural engineer, inspected the building twice last year and found it in “extremely poor condition.” The building has extensive rot and failures in the first floor, as well as drainage problems, mold and possible roof leaks, he said in a report.
At the time, White River Junction architect Jay Barrett, who visited the Town House with Schaal, estimated it would cost $690,000 to fully restore the building.
Barrett said on Monday the $20,000 allocated for repairs is “probably enough” to keep the structure from collapsing. However, he said, the budget is “woefully inadequate” to make the building usable.
“If the idea is to replace the floor beyond the point of repair, that’s a large project, and I think it’s far in excess of what they’ve got,” he said in a phone interview.
The town’s request for proposals seeks a contractor to remove the Town House’s floor, subfloor and flooring supports. The supports and subfloor would then be replaced with moisture-resistant material.
A new hardwood floor is not part of the project, the request said.
Enfield Town Manager Ryan Aylesworth said officials are attempting to take a “measured and realistic” approach to repairs, ensuring the building stays upright while its future is discussed further.
Fully reopening the building could require the installation of running water, septic and parking facilities, a costly endeavor considering the Town House sits on a small, 5,600-square-foot lot and previously relied on the nearby Union Church of Enfield Center to provide such facilities.
Smith, who has advocated for the building’s restoration for more than a decade, said she’s hopeful those problems will someday be solved.
“I’ve overcome other such hurdles,” she said, pointing to the town’s recent fundraising and acquisition of Mascoma Lakeside Park. “When I started that project, people said ‘Forget it. You won’t be able to do it.’ ”
Aylesworth said the repair project could start next spring and be completed by the end of summer 2020.
Tim Camerato can be reached at tcamerato@vnews.com or 603-727-3223.