HARDWICK – The Civic Standard hosted a tour of its building at 42 South Main Street in Hardwick and a public conversation in the Hardwick Memorial Building about options for the little building with big questions, as the invitation explained. The Monday, April 28, gathering began at 5:30 p.m., with a tour of the building, which several dozen people from Hardwick and nearby towns attended.
Rose Friedman welcomed visitors and offered a quick overview of the building that she says will require paint and a new roof if it is to continue being insurable. The foundation has been undercut on the downstream corner in the last two year’s flooding. While much work has been done on the interior to clear out decades of accumulation, the building is in need of interior maintenance as well, she said.
The tour was unguided, as visitors were invited to have a look at all four floors of the building. Friedman and other Civic staff were available to answer questions. Most negotiated steps into the poorly lighted basement, which hosted several defunct heating systems, an ancient electric paper cutter and a pile of old coal, used as heat as recently as a decade ago, when the building was sold by former editor and publisher Ross Connelly to Ray and Kim Small, who donated the building to The Civic Standard at the end of 2023. Friedman said the basement received little water during recent flooding events.
photo by Paul Fixx
The upstairs features a kitchen, where The Civic now prepares its Wednesday meals. A third floor attic served as storage and an apartment’s bedroom for a portion of the Small’s tenure. A covered exterior stairway leads to the kitchen.
After the interior tour, Friedman led the assembly to the Peace Park next door to view the rear of the building, where the recent floods have rearranged stones and gravel, removing some of the streambed that once protected the foundation.
A little before 6:30 p.m., Friedman began the Memorial Building portion of the program, introducing a panel who she’d gathered to share their knowledge of the building, local conditions and to answer questions for the roughly 30 people there. The building is likely the oldest to remain standing in Hardwick’s downtown according to Wiz Dow, Hardwick Historical Society president, she said.
President of the Preservation Trust of Vermont (PTV), Den Doyle, said PTV has a mission to build community through the preservation of historic downtowns and has been appreciating The Civic’s stewardship of the building. The ongoing conversation about the building shows the dedication of The Civic and the community.
Jackson Evans, a PTV field representative, spoke next, sharing the history of the building, which is an important Hardwick building for the history and broad pattern of development it evidences.
PTV started working with The Civic in July of 2022, not long after they took up residency in the building that spring, providing technical assistance. An assessment before 2023 flooding in Hardwick noted that the building was in generally good condition, he said. The 2023 flood scoured the bank and water rose to within a foot of the first floor, but did not harm the building. Evans said he’s now working with a structural engineer to identify necessary foundation and basement work.
Hardwick Floodplain Administrator Kristen Leahy talked about the building’s location along the river, where it is the only downtown building in the floodway, making it more susceptible to future flooding events. Buildings in the floodway are held to higher standards and require Development Review Board approvals and state review for any work done to them, she said.
After reviewing the buyout program, of which the Civic’s building was the last of 20 to be accepted in Hardwick, she said, there’s doubt about the future of the program and the state continuing its 25% match of federal funds.
A decision on whether to accept a buyout can be deferred up until a closing date, which is likely to be roughly two years away, if the program continues. A buyout would be priced at the appraised value, perhaps as much as twice the current $140,000 assessed value, based on Leahy’s guesstimate.
In wrapping up the presentation, Friedman suggested The Civic does not have the resources to manage a large building project because their priorities lie in carrying out their mission of holding events and connecting the community. While they are hoping to move elsewhere, she said, “we agree with the fact that the building is a big part of our organization and important to us and the town.”
She and the PTV representatives laid out several possibilities for the building, sharing that PTV has secured private, philanthropic funding toward the repair and preservation of the building. Those funds could be put toward the painting, roof and foundation repair, but no one wants to see those funds wasted if the long-term best course is to decide the property has reached the end of its life and the buyout program is the appropriate option.
A wide range of questions were asked and answered, along with speculation that consideration might be given to moving the building.
Friedman had no specific plan for the next steps to be taken in deciding a future course for the building, though, “we continue to invite feedback on this process and want to hear the feelings, questions, and ideas of the town.”
In the immediate future, work on the foundation is likely important, to protect the foundation, for which Evans said the available funds would cover a project manager, said Evans. That project might be done using the same contractor, and in conjunction with work planned by the town on the pedestrian bridge and Main Street wall between The Civic Building and the Village Restaurant, which is planned for this summer, but has yet to receive a green light from FEMA.
Doyle said, in closing, that PTV offers its support for the project, in whatever form it ends up taking.
Paul Fixx is editor of The Hardwick Gazette and lives in Hardwick.
