GOSHEN — As rehabilitation of the town’s historic Town Hall enters a key stage thanks to a new grant, an unrelated project nearby, “Re-imagine Goshen Center” — which supporters believe will transform Goshen from a “drive-through” community to a destination and community hub — is in the funding homestretch.

Combined, the two projects are part of a larger effort costing between $1.2 million and $1.4 million to reinvigorate the town’s Main Street corridor.

A multiphase rehab of John James Memorial Town Hall, which opened on Independence Day in 1911, recently received $85,000 in federal grant money for the third phase of its restoration, the latest in a long line of funding to upgrade the 42 Main St. building where town business is conducted and the library is housed on the second floor.

The Pioneer Valley Planning Commission, through the Pioneer Valley Regional Ventures Center, was able to procure the grant money after the town applied to receive funds from the Paul Bruhn Historic Revitalization Program. This is the first time the Bruhn grant, funded by the National Park Service, has been awarded in Massachusetts, with $650,000 in funding divided among seven properties in Hampden, Hampshire, and Worcester counties for preservation of buildings deemed both historical and worth preserving by the U.S. secretary of the interior. In addition to Goshen, one of the other awards for $100,000 went to Phelps Farm in Hadley for a project called “Forty Acres and its Skirts.”

Goshen’s Town Hall project, which began in 2016, is estimated to cost between $800,000 and $1 million and is being completed in phases, according to Dawn Scaparotti, who served as Goshen’s town administrator until her recent acceptance of a new job. Scaparotti has acted as the town’s project manager for the restoration over phase two, and plans to oversee the project into the foreseeable future.

She explained that “just under 20% of the funding towards the entire project has been acquired through grant money, with the remaining 80% having been sequestered through Community Preservation Act (CPA) funding.” That means that $810,000 is coming from CPA, while $109,000 has been received through the Massachusetts Historical Commission, along with the $85,000 from the Bruhn grant.

The CPA funding, which the town “has been saving for years” after joining the program about 10 years ago, is collected as a 3% surcharge to taxes, and utilized as a community investment toward infrastructure — whether for historical property maintenance, for building low-income housing, or for land conservation. The use of the funds toward the historic restoration was approved voters in special town meetings, said Scaparotti, citing the community’s support throughout the process.

Scaparotti is unsure whether the $85,000 coming from the Bruhn grant will cover all the projects of phase three, as the town waits for responses from general contractors. This phase includes installing copper gutters and downspouts, heating elements for the roof and other water-diverting elements, along with complete handicapped access to the building — projects scheduled for completion by August 2026.

Meanwhile, the second phase is nearing completion. That work has involved sealing the hall’s 23 double-hung windows, original from 1910, installing mahogany replicas of the original doors, and repointing the exterior’s cobblestone facade.

Phase one covered replacing the original slate roof, building a new concrete walkway and stairs at the front entrance and the south portico, and repairing its eight columns.

John James Memorial Town Hall was added to the National Registry of Historic Places in 2018, and all work must comply with standards laid out for buildings designated as historic.

‘Re-Imagine Goshen’

Meanwhile, the town’s Open Space Committee has launched an inaugural capital campaign for “Re-Imagine Goshen,” a $400,000 project that calls for remaking the town’s Main Street corridor.

Phase I work began in September 2023 with demolition of tennis courts in Memorial Park and tree removal around the space to make way for a village green. Trees in the park have been pruned, and a billboard advertising the refurbishment project has been installed.

The Open Space Committee hopes to raise $20,000 this year to put toward the remaining $125,000 that needs to be raised for the remainder of the project, said Lorraine Brisson, the town’s project manager for the initiative. The project has secured $275,000 to date, including $200,000 in CPA funding, $50,000 from the state Legislature and $25,000 in community fundraising.

Brisson said the community’s fundraising initiatives have been integral to the process, as the Open Space Committee has hosted spaghetti dinners, bingo nights and tag sales, and implemented a bottle redemption program, in which redeemable bottles are collected by volunteers. A quilt raffle will take place through Dec. 8, with tickets available on the town’s website and through local vendors. A pizza party is scheduled for Oct. 5, and bingo on Nov. 10, both of which will be held at Town Hall.

According to Brisson, $8,021 has been spent thus far, and no one company has been contracted to complete the entire project, which has been and continues to be a key agenda item in the Open Space Committee’s seven-year plan. Published in 2021, the plan intends to add outdoor recreational opportunities to the town and increase economic activity and community pride, all while preserving Goshen’s rural character and biodiversity.

The second phase of “Re-Imagine Goshen” starts next year and encompasses construction of a timber frame pavilion and expansive common green, and a facelift of the memorial lawn area. New features include Goshen stone walls and a patio with cafe tables, a brick walkway, a wrought iron archway at the entrance to the park, refurbished veteran and 9/11 memorials, a donor trellis, park benches, lawn areas, and plantings of trees, shrubs, and pollinator gardens.

The project is slated for completion in 2026.

Sam Gelinas can be reached at sgelinas@gazettenet.com.