RUMFORD — Thanks to grants and donations, the Rumford Center Village Improvement Society is getting close to starting the restoration of the nearly two-century-old Rumford Center Meeting House.

Since 1804, when Francis Keyes was charged with constructing a meeting house “as near to the center as may be,” the house has occupied the same site at 1352 Route 2, in Rumford Center. It has always served as the community’s gathering place. Though still in use, its foundation is crumbling, paint is peeling and not one system is up to code.

And since 1924, the society has used the building exclusively and has done everything from plays to concerts, to having it available to the community for various uses.

Rumford’s original town hall

The meeting house served as the original town hall and meeting place. The Select Board leased the building to the nonprofit Rumford Center Village Improvement Society, months after a nonbinding advisory poll when citizens voted not to support the town raising and appropriating a then-estimated $600,000 for repairs and improvements.

Town Manager Stacy Carter said the building has significant historical value to the town. And although it has foundation issues, “it’s not a building that’s falling down.”

Momentum is growing

At an society meeting in the building Oct. 15, President Ken MacFawn reminded the members:

• They have 96 members paying membership dues of $25 per year. “That’s a steadfast amount that we can depend on, hopefully, every year.

• They have also had several monetary donations people “who remember this building, even if they don’t live here anymore.”

• Several people donated items for the recent annual yard sale.

“That was a big boost to us this year,” he said. “The benevolence of a lot of people has helped us.”

MacFawn said that over his past 20 years as president, many of the people instrumental “in keeping this place together” moved or passed away. “It kind of got to a point where we started to lose membership and people’s attention. Because of the shape of the building, we couldn’t do the things we wanted to do. Henceforth, things kind of fell apart.

“With this new group, as you can see, we’re serious,” he said. “We have meetings. We have officers. We have a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. All these things kind of came together over the last 14 months.”

First of four-phase project nears start

Treasurer Sarah Broughton talked about the group’s finances.

As of the end of September, they had a over $43,000, with much of that coming from a $20,000 Belvedere Preservation Fund and a $5,000 grant from Franklin Savings Bank.

“We’ve received word, just recently, that Poland Spring Community Fund has approved a $20,000 grant to us,” Broughton said. “Our yard sale was phenomenal this year. We raised over $7,000. That’s the most our yard sale has ever taken in. We’re very excited about what is happening. It’s all coming together.”

Committee member Linda Russell said, “So here we are now trying to raise money to restore the meeting house and get it back to itself. Unsurprisingly, grants or people who give money, want to know what your budget is.”

The society is hoping to reach $70,000 soon so they can begin phase one. That includes excavating the perimeter and raising the building; installing new frost wall foundation and strategic support devices; assessing structural needs for phase two; and setting the building on a new foundation.

Also needed a kitchen and two bathrooms that comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

MacFawn said of project contractor Jim Barnett, “I’ve known him since he was a kid. He’s very responsible, has done a lot of work for the town, has a good reputation, and he knows how to do this kind of thing, which is to raise an old building.”

He said Barnett has a very comprehensive plan for doing it, “but it’s not easy or anything you do quickly.”

Factors to get phase one underway this year include whether Barnett has the time to do this and gets this done before the weather gets bad, and whether or not there is a solution is regard to the cemetery behind the meeting house.

“We’ve got a lot of posted beam stuff, the roof sags, the floor — if you stand up over there, you could almost fall over, you can see the remnants of what’s going on with that wall where the plaster is cracked, we know it’s moving,” MacFawn said.

“So Jim, with his benevolence, three years ago, dug that whole side out because it was literally going into the ground,” he said. “He sent his men up here for a whole week. They dug it up. They jacked it up. And that gave us a chance to look under it and see what the heck is going on. And he did it for nothing. He wouldn’t take any money for it because he wants to be part of the community, too.”

Memberships and donations

MacFawn also acknowledged the work secretary Gabrielle Johnson has done online to “give people an idea of what we’re all about, progress, and how to get onto the website to check on what we have in mind coming and what we’ve done in the past.”

Johnson noted these include https://www.rumfordcentervis.org/ and Rumford Center Village Improvement Society on Facebook as well as Instagram.

Donations can be made online at https://fundly.com/help-us-save-the-meeting-house

Gifts to the nonprofit are tax deductible.

Membership to Rumford Center Village Improvement Society is $25 per household per year. The membership year runs May through April. To join, send payment to the Rumford Center Village Improvement Society, P.O. Box 361, Rumford, ME 04276. Include your name, contact information and note the payment is for membership.

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