Tom,  Thanks for your input.  I don't believe this building nor this area
of town have any "Historic" designation.  The downtown part of Putney is an
Historic District but this building is off the beaten path in an area known
as East Putney which was once a thriving community in and of itself but is
now very rural and sparcely populated.  The organization that owns the
building has been pretty much not functioning for 20 yrs or more.  There is
a Contra Dance group that uses it once a month.  They have managed to make
enough  money with their dances to keep the light bill, fuel bill and
insurance paid but that's about it.  Now that the building is beginning to
need some real money and the popularity of the dances is beginning to wane
so they are not making as much money they are feeling that they cannot
continue to support the building alone.  The Historical Society does not
own a building and has most of their holdings in storage at the Town Hall
in space that the Town Fathers are wanting to use for other purposes so the
merger does make sense, if we can do it correctly AND if we can get grant
funding for the needed repairs.

Sound like we should look at getting listed as an Historic Building.
Wonder how we would do that?

Building inspectors in this area leave alot to be desired.  We had one,
supposed to be the best around, look at a house we were buying and he
didn't do a darned thing I couldn't do myself.  Pretty much looked at it
and said, "Yup, it's still standing and the power seems to work."  He noted
a couple of silly little items that I could fix myself in half an hour that
he thought the sellers should fix and that was it--for mucho mullah!!!!!!
Ruth




At 11:46 AM -0400 9/25/06, T. Gale wrote:
>Ruth,
>
>The construction you describe is not unusual.  I believe the inner
>bricks are probably cruder and softer than the exterior brick and serve
>as both a structure for the interior wall system and insulation (as it
>were, fuel used to be cheap).
>
>There are indeed private building inspectors that will work up a report
>on the building's condition.  Many people use their services when buying
>real estate.  While many are not necessarily familiar with historic
>buildings local inspectors may have some experience with buildings of a
>similar era.
>
>To go backwards a bit, is the building listed on the State and National
>Register of Historic Places either individually or as contributing
>within a district?  Is there a local historic district and/or a local
>Historic Preservation Commission (HPC)?  The reason I ask is that, at
>least where I live, there is considerably more money available for
>listed buildings.  In fact, through grants, many local groups have been
>able to fund detailed building studies and develop "Preservation Plans"
>with the help of an historic building architect to guide the appropriate
>stabilization/preservation/restoration of historic local buildings.  You
>may get more specific advice and recommendations from your State
>Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) and your local HPC.
>The only problem is that with grants, the projects can take a
>considerately long time to complete.  If the building is not listed, it
>might be a beneficial effort to make but again can take a considerably
>long time (for example, we are still waiting for official recognition of
>a local historic district whose report was contracted for nearly four
>years ago and whose designation was discussed many more years prior).
>
>Maintenance and stabilization are key to having a building to work on in
>the future.  A few (relative) dollars spent maintaining the building
>envelope can help keep major repair costs down farther (or is it
>further, what's the difference?) into the future.
>
>Can't help with the deed question but I wonder what the point of
>including stipulations in a deed is if they can easily be removed,
>especially by someone other that the original party.
>
>Again using local experience as an example, there seems to be a limit to
>resources, i. e. people and money, that a community can supply so that
>separate organizations tend to compete with each other.  There may be an
>advantage to merging the groups as long as there are not profound legal
>or personnel problems involved.
>
>Good luck,
>Tom Gale
-- 
Ruth Barton
[log in to unmask]
Dummerston, VT

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