08/23/2026
The SHS meets Monday evening, 8/24 @ 6:30at their museum.
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🏛️ Sangerville Town Hall Restoration Update: Session 2 Recap & Progress 🏛️
Our joint grant writing session this week brought together the Town Hall Committee, the Sangerville Historical Society, Town Manager Brian, and local residents. We are continuing to build a competitive application for the state’s Historic Community Building Grant (HCBG) before the October 23 deadline.
Here are the specific updates and progress from this week's working session:
1. A Direct Line to Maine Historic Preservation Town Manager Brian recently met in person with staff from Maine Historic Preservation in Augusta. The state preservation team confirmed they will pre-screen our complete draft application prior to the final October 23 deadline. This extra step ensures our application won't be disqualified over minor technicalities or formatting errors, giving us a fair, competitive shot at state funding.
2. Scope of Work: Foundation & Site Water Control Working alongside structural engineer Steve Gavoni, our Phase 1 grant request is laser-focused on one main objective: completely replacing and stabilizing the brick-and-granite masonry foundation.
* Site Drainage: The engineering plan includes regrading the parking lot away from the structure and installing a stone drainage catch system connected toward Route 23 to permanently prevent freeze-thaw water damage.
* Reopening the First Floor: Securing the foundation is the critical first step required to make the building structurally sound and uninsurable status resolved, allowing us to safely reopen the first floor for municipal offices, community meetings, and local historical displays. (Upper floor renovations and elevator additions remain planned for future phases.)
3. Fundraising & Grant Matching Progress The HCBG scoring process heavily favors applications with strong, cash-in-hand local matching funds.
* GoFundMe Target: Our campaign is over $2,000 toward an initial $5,000 milestone, with funds flowing directly through the Sangerville Historical Society (a 501c3 non-profit).
* Local Outreach: Donation and pledge forms are out across the community—including at local businesses, local credit unions, the food cupboard, the gym, and local insurance offices.
4. Strong Administrative Partnership To earn top points for administrative capacity, the Town of Sangerville and the Historical Society are teaming up on fiscal oversight, leveraging successful past experience with historical and municipal grants (such as the Abby Fowler School project) to ensure every dollar is tracked transparently.
🤝 How You Can Help This Week:
* Donate to the Match: Pick up a physical pledge form around town or donate directly through our online campaign: links are at top of this page info.
* Share the Message: Every share helps demonstrate strong community backing—a key scoring criteria for grant reviewers!
🗓 Next Working Session: Tuesday, August 25 at 6:00 PM 📍 Sangerville Fire Station
Agenda: Public Benefit / Community Building & Administrative Capability grant sections pages 3 & 4.
All working sessions are open to the public. Thank you for working with us to preserve our 1901 Greek Revival Town Hall!
