Above: SHS is making progress on restoring Fayville Hall, but there’s more work needed before the doors can open to the public. (photo by Beth Melo)
The Southborough Historical Society issued an update on their ongoing restoration of Fayville Village Hall. It was part of a request for financial support to help cover the “thousand things that remain to be done (and paid for)” to convert the historic building into a History and Arts Center for the town.
The message reminded supporters of the dire straights SHS found itself in a year ago, when they discovered “a spring in the basement (flowing at 50 gallons a minute!) and other unwelcome discoveries about the deteriorated condition of the over 110 year old building.
The message shared some of the challenges they had faced (with photo highlights) as they continued to pursue the building restoration this year.
The building is now “dry and structurally sound”. Not mentioned was the new color the building sports. I was curious about the choice, so followed up with SHS President Michael Weishan to learn more.
Weishan explained:
It’s unclear what color Fayville was originally. From the [black & white] pictures it looks as if it were light gray, perhaps natural cedar shakes at first. Through the next 110 years, it has been many colors. So after much deliberation and a review 6 historic colors, the board chose Brewster gray in the spirit of the original color.
He also volunteered a few details about the renovation that weren’t in the message on the SHS website. The front shutters will be reinstalled within a couple of weeks “with their original heart-shaped cut outs”.
The building isn’t under a Preservation Restriction, but SHS has intended to restore and preserve the facade as much as they can afford to. To that end they chose to duplicate the original cedar shakes the building was sided with at a significant cost (about $100K). It took more than six weeks for workers to install. Weishan noted, “I think the results speak for themselves, and should outlive us all.”
Some of the work that is still to be done includes adding an elevator to make the building ADA compliant. When complete, SHS expects to use the hall as:
a vibrant venue for art instruction, meetings, social gatherings, private functions, and of course, state-of-the-art archival storage and exhibit space for the Society’s growing historical collections.
SHS is also encouraging those who might want to use the space as an artist or instructor to reach out.
To read their annual appeal with more details, click here.
In July, the project received its Major Site Plan Approval from the Planning Board. The conditions limit the hours of operation from “Dawn to Dusk” unless SHS brings back a modified site plan with parking lot lighting. The majority of the parking lot is allowed to be gravel, with a paved spot only for the “accessible parking spaces and associated aisle”.
Hi Beth, a notation to the last paragraph above. Fayville Hall never had outdoor lighting throughout its 100-year history of active use by the Town, so needless to say, this precondition to opening imposed by the Planning Board came as an unwelcome surprise. That being said, all the additional site plan requirements imposed by the Planning Board are the subject of our upcoming CPC funding request, and we hope our residents will get behind this incredible project and support us at Town Meeting. Thanks again for the notice, and the merriest of merries to all with wishes for a healthy and prosperous new year.