Meeting House/Community Hall Preservation Plan

plan

phase1 - Fundraising and Purchase

phase2 - Accessibility, Safety, Infrastructure repairs

phase3a - Habitability: Kitchen installation, CH Vestibule rebuilding

phase3b - Habitability: Plaster, Painting, Lighting upgrades, Ventilation
(still to be done)

phase 4 - Upkeep: Exterior repairs and painting, Horticulture Plan
(still to be done)

The church building in the center of the hamlet of New Concord was owned and used by the Dutch Reformed church for many years. When the Dutch Reformed Classis discontinued its use as a place of worship, the structure's future became uncertain. The Society of New Concord stepped in and committed to the purchase and preservation of the building.

Fundraising and Purchase (already accomplished)

The fund-raising effort to save the church had huge local participation: each member of the Society Executive Committee pledged and contributed [100% participation, 24 % of funds raised]; all members of the Fund-raising Committee pledged [100% participation, 14% of funds raised]; and there was 46% participation from our members at large. We also managed contributions from local businesses [2% of funds raised].

Although purchase was complicated by two NY State liens on the property (old heating oil-spill cleanup), the sale closed in October, 2011; the whole acquisition lasted about two-and-a-half years. The first feelers about disposing of the buildings came in early Spring 2009, and we eventually negotiated with the Classis of Columbia-Greene Reformed Church (owners of the property), and the NY State Attorney General’s Office (holder of the liens). There were also eventually settlements about an easement for the boundary between the church property and the (Muth) house to the north, and hearings before the Zoning Board of Appeals (potential “change of use”). Bringing about the sale was a long and intense behind-the-scenes process.

Accessibility, Safety, Infrastructure repairs (already accomplished)

In a series of “barn raising” events during 2013, we used crews of volunteer neighbors—under the direction of professional contractors—to accomplish:

• Demolition weekend [29 participants, February 2-3, 2013]: removal of waterlogged flooring and rotted sub-flooring, of all vertical sheetrock, of damaged partitions and kitchen cabinets, interior doors and bathroom fixtures.

• Reconfiguring and Framing Rooms

• Insulation Installation [12 participants, April 13, 2013]; placement of vapor barrier and fiberglass insulation all exterior walls and selected interior walls

• New Windows Campaign [13 individuals or couples, first week of May, 2013]; fundraising to purchase 11 new double-pane windows

• Sheet Rocking Weekend [12 participants, June 2-3, 2013]; many of us learned how to install sheetrock: all interior and exterior walls

• Interior Painting [6 participants, June and July, 2013]; painting walls, window trim, doors and casings

• Doors and Floors [carpenters and technician, Fall 2013]; installation of hardwood floors, new interior doors and door hardware

We also completed the following during the course of 2012-2016:

• Solicitation of grants and donations for materials and repairs

• Building Cleanup, rodent extermination [both buildings inside and outside]

• Rebuilding of cornice returns [Community Hall], eaten by animals

• Cleaning of chimney, installation of flue cap, reconditioning oil burner [Community Hall]

• Complete re-plumbing of the building [Community Hall]

• Complete rewiring both buildings: new breaker boxes, metal shielded cables, switches, outlets and LED lights, compliant with modern building/safety codes

• Creating passageway between two buildings to allow wheelchair access to all public spaces

• Completing handicap-accessible bathroom: sink, toilet, exhaust fan, water heater, grab bars, mirror, and pressure tank

• Installing 2 fire extinguishers in each building, smoke and CO detectors, emergency lighting and exit signs

• Making new emergency/accessible entrance with wheelchair ramp

• Obtaining and installing period-appropriate box lock (with modern cylinder), repairing main double doors [Meeting House]

• Replacing cracked tiles of slate roof, shortening and repairing brick chimney, placing new copper chimney flashing, installing new copper roof ridge cap, Meeting House [June 2014]

• Restoration and reinstallation of all the stained-glass windows [Meeting House], thanks to a grant from the Veillette-Nifosi foundation [total project completion, April 2015]

• Community Hall Ceiling repair, new LED light panels and sound-control baffles [Summer 2015]

• Acquiring cabinets and appliances from a Long Island kitchen renovation, to be fitted into our “kitchen” room

• Acquiring a good-quality used refrigerator [Community Hall]

• Securing a pledge for a 5-year lease to the adjacent land parcel, along with a grant for clearing and grading into a picnic grove (informal permission accomplished, legal lease pending)

• Removing two mature maple trees in front of Meeting House obscuring facade and impinging on roof and bell tower [September 2015]