courtesy photo
Ray Small, former editor of the Hardwick Gazette (left), and Rose Friedman, executive director of the Civic Standard (right), met at the Hardwick offices of attorney Kristina Michelsen on December 29 to finalize the donation of the former Gazette building to the Civic Standard.
by Gazette Staff
HARDWICK – The Civic Standard, a local nonprofit organization founded in 2023, has taken ownership of the former Hardwick Gazette building on South Main Street in Hardwick village.
The building was donated by Kim and Ray Small, former owners of the Hardwick Gazette, in support of the Civic Standard’s mission.
The Civic Standard’s website describes itself as “a grand social experiment rooted in a small town, an effort in collaborative fun-making and culture-building, an art project, a church of theater, a free supper club, and a public living room for cozy conversations.”
The Civic Standard signed a lease with the Smalls in August of 2022 to occupy the building, which had been vacant since the Gazette moved out to reduce operating costs after the onset of the COVID pandemic in early 2020.
Since then, the Civic has transformed the building into a combination office, planning center, clubhouse, rehearsal room, soup kitchen, and after-school hangout. The leaders of the nonprofit call the building “the living room on Main Street”, and their goal is to create a place “where everyone feels welcome, and everyone comes”.
Initially, the Smalls were making plans to sell the building when Rose Friedman, Tara Reese, and Justin Lander stopped by to inquire about using the building as a base of operations for the initiative that became the Civic Standard. Discussions identified the building as suitable for the organization’s purposes, but it seemed unlikely that the nonprofit would be able to raise the money to purchase the building. Both parties agreed to rent the building as a trial run of the community hub concept. The Smalls also agreed to donate the building if the trial run worked out.
Ray Small said that “it was a painful decision to move the newsroom out of the Gazette building but, after the outbreak of COVID, the paper could not afford the expenses that keeping the building open required. Kim and I were all set to put the building on the market when Rose, Tara, and Justin stopped by. We always saw the Gazette as integral to public life in the area. Making the building a community hub fit perfectly with the public service legacy that the Gazette has embodied since 1889, so we were happy to be able to help the Civic Standard find a home.”
Rose Friedman, executive director of the Civic Standard, said that “We feel lucky and proud to have our home base in the center of our beloved town. The kids stopping by on their way home from school, trucks honking at us when we’re outside sweeping the steps, the random drop-by-for-coffee visitors — these are essential and meaningful parts of the usual planning and organizing work that goes on every day here. The history of the building is always present, and we feel that we are carrying on a long tradition of civic engagement, mutual helpfulness, and consistent listening that existed in this place long before us.”
The work of the Civic extends far beyond the walls of the former Gazette headquarters. Its first event of the new year was the annual chili supper and Christmas tree bonfire at Butch’s Harvest’ore in Walden. The Civic regularly produces events at the Legion and the Village Restaurant, as well as working with Hazen students, and organizations and businesses around town.
Friedman added that “The Civic is deeply grateful to Ray and Kim for taking a chance on a new and experimental organization. Their generosity is a big part of the foundation of the Civic Standard, allowing for so much more ongoing generosity throughout the community.”
On December 29, Friedman and Ray Small met at the Hardwick office of attorney Kristina Michelsen to finalize the transfer of the building.
