PUTNEY — With the tremendous support of more than 80 local donors and four grants, Putney Historical Society (PHS) has been successful in its effort to raise $40,000 to install new ADA-compliant bathrooms and a rear fire exit for the 1841 historic former United Church of Putney.
The building is now used by PHS and Next Stage Arts.
The work on the bathrooms and the new fire exit will be done soon, along with moisture-sealing the building's crawl space. The project also hopes to build an $11,000 Emergency Reserve Fund to address repairs and other critical issues (roof leaks, paint/structure failure, or mechanical repairs) if they arise in the next few years.
Since 2010, PHS has partnered with Next Stage Arts to develop 15 Kimball Hill - the former church building in the center of Putney Village - into a fully functioning performing arts and community center.
Their overall goals for Next Stage/15 Kimball Hill are to help revitalize and sustain the slumped local village economy and keep an important landmark alive and serving the community.
The historic building is in fair to good condition and stable, but needs more safety and ADA-access improvements to continue being used while building toward a larger capital campaign.
A five-year plan is in place for a comprehensive rehabilitation/preservation of the building that addresses all the code and building needs identified in recent evaluations and feasibility plans.
This larger project was just awarded a Village Center tax credit of more than $125,000 towards code and façade improvements, which will include an elevator and sprinkler system.