BARRE, Vt. (AP) – Tess Taylor has a kind of double vision as she gazes about the interior of the massive, wood-framed building at the edge of town.

The old Jones Brothers Co. granite shed may be surrounded by a hurricane fence now and stand silent but for the sounds of Taylor’s Jack Russell terrior scampering around the vast space on a mid-autumn day.

She can see clearly, though, through the afternoon sunlight filtering through dozens of windows, into the building’s past and its future.

The past is filled with thousands of laborers and artisans cutting and sculpting world famous Barre gray granite into cemetery stones and public monuments.

Visions of the past are part of the future for the wing of the old Jones Brothers shed that will house the Vermont Granite Museum of Barre.

Perhaps more importantly, in Taylor’s vision, will be a new generation of stoneworkers at the other end of the roughly 30,000 square feet of granite shed that remains. They’ll be taking classes that will preserve the craftsmanship developed over the past century and a half but in danger of dying out with the current generation.

“This is about our own heritage, the history of the people, the labor component, our history of the labor movement, the history of silicosis, the tragedy and triumph of that,” Taylor said as she examined the venerable building where so much of that history was made. “It needs to be a place that we can really be proud of, that represents the story of the granite in Vermont, but particularly Barre.”

That’s long been a vision for the industrial heart of central Vermont, but plans have been delayed by the need to shore up the old Jones Brothers building and the challenges of raising money to pay for transforming it into a museum and school.

Taylor and Tom Bellville, who now heads the Barre Stone Arts School that is a part of the museum, promise the vision is about to be realized. Late last month Taylor met with contractors in preparation for renovating what now is just the shell of the old granite shed.

Over the winter, new life will be obvious around the building as construction crews converge on it and the school begins taking shape. Work on the museum space will follow while Tess and the museum board work to raise more money to complete the project.

There are grand hopes that the museum and school will be another step in the revitalization of Barre. It thrived at the turn of the 19th century and well into the 20th as the hub of granite production and artistry.

But the city fell on hard times as the scourge of silicosis, a debilitating lung ailment caused by breathing in granite dust, killed practically a generation of the stone carvers who made the city synonymous with artistry in stone.

Bellville is determined to preserve that heritage with the School of Stone Arts, which already has begun offering classes before it even has a permanent home of its own.

“One nice thing about being tied in with the museum is not only do we have responsibility for using state of the art technology, we have the responsibility of preserving past skills and past techniques,” he said. “We want to provide new blood to the industry.”

Current stoneworkers are the instructors in the school.

They’ve passed on their knowledge of carving, sandblasting, etching and draftsmanship. A class is planned this fall that will focus on advanced sand blasting and some shaped carving. Bellville also is planning classes for this winter, when he hopes they might be conducted at the Jones Brothers building.

“I see people who come to this as an art, some come to it as an occupation and some are already there and want to improve their skills,” he said.

Students already have been drawn to the school from as far away as the Midwest and both Bellville and the Barre Granite Association hope that continues.

There aren’t any of the old-time apprenticeship programs left at the Barre sheds, so John Castaldo of the granite association is glad an effort at continuing the tradition is developing.

“The more support we can get going for the school the better off we are,” he said. “It’s going to be tough when some of the older sculptors stop doing this.”

Sen. Vincent Illuzzi was drawn to the museum and school project through his family history – his father was a sculptor. He helped guide state seed money to the museum, which helped pay for some renovation work.

“Obviously, I had a personal interest, but it’s a good community project,” he said. “At that time they were losing granite sheds and there was no history of what made Barre what it is today.”

The old Jones Brothers building was lifted from its old foundation and raised four feet to get it above the flood plain. It now sits on a cement foundation and its interior support posts sit on large granite bases. Weak or rotten timbers were replaced, insulation was installed outside and a new shell matching the old one was built around that.

But there it has sat for lack of money.

When Taylor joined the museum early this year, she decided it would make sense to scale back the full plans so potential contributors could see the project actually in operation. It might inspire new gifts to complete it.

So instead of waiting until $12 million is raised, she’s planning to spend $1 million over the next few months to put in a floor, a classroom and workspace on the school’s wing of the building. Temporary exhibits will be mounted at the unfinished museum end and fund-raising will continue.

Classes will be held in the space “definitely by next spring. There’s no question about it,” she said.

Then, she hopes to follow the lead of the Vermont History Center, which recently opened at the other end of town. The Vermont Historical Society has renovated most of the former Spaulding Graded School into its new headquarters and now shows visitors such things as the incomplete auditorium and promises it will be renovated when the money’s available.

“The one thing they remember is that unfinished room,” she said. “I think that’s what we can do with this project.” People will see what it can become and maybe they’ll help financially.

Standing in the middle of the impressive building – where at least a couple of football games could go on simultaneously beneath the huge beams that still support some period air-handling machinery and one day will support two remaining cranes again – Taylor just knows in her bones that she’s already got an impressive museum exhibit that will inspire people.

“I see the biggest exhibit piece is this building itself.”

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