Town Hall Damage Assessment and Projected Repair Cost Continue to Climb
An old wooden railing is ready to fall apart from rot along the granite staircase facing Front Street and bordering the rear parking area entrance.
Photo by Keith Kent
Using his hand to show scale, Sultzbach demonstrates where he pulled 20 feet of vine out of the exterior brick wall which made its way well inside the interior wall and could have potentially reached electrical wiring.
Photo by Keith Kent
This rear door hatchway entrance facing Cumberland Farms is completely rotted allowing water from any rainstorm to flow directly into the building, causing continual damage.
Photo by Keith Kent
New Town Manager Justin Sultzbach says he made it a point, as one of his first duties, to examine the structure of the Town Hall. Since he started the news has not been good, with mounting necessary repairs, and discoveries showing damage at least a decade in the making, which he says with attention could have been prevented.
A close-up survey of the exterior of the Winchendon Town Hall reveals many findings just to the naked eye. Places where water can enter the building; railings nearly completely rotted and ready to break; granite window sill bases sinking; brick walls on all sides with little to no mortar holding them in place; emergency exits blocked by vine growth; vines which made their way inside brick walls reaching the inner walls; multiple rotted exterior wooden window frames, and much more, all documented by photos, show a pattern of little exterior maintenance, according to the Town Manager.
Sultzbach said, "This didn't happen overnight, this is years and years of neglect which wasn't addressed. Almost all of these problems we can just see with our eyes alone could have most likely been prevented if funds were marked for upkeep and repair over the years."
Sultzbach physically demonstrated how bad the building's current condition has become. Just using his fingers and a bare hand, he effortlessly pulled a brick right out of a section of wall which normally would require drilling to remove. Sultzbach said, "And again this is what we can see with just our eyes. I found vines growing up in through twenty feet of wall, what else could they have reached? I actually could hear it moving through the inside of the brick wall as I was pulling it down."
Preliminary masonry work is begun on a lower level exterior wall, near a window where the granite stone sill has sunk at least an inch and will need to be jacked up during future repair. Sunken sills were observed around the building in other locations.
Photo by Keith Kent
A second floor fire escape door on the rear of the Town Hall over the former police station is sealed shut by many years of vine growth, blocking the emergency exit if ever needed.
Photo by Keith Kent
Town Manager Justin Sultzbach physically removes a brick from a rear wall on the Town Hall building with ease using just a bare hand demonstrating just how badly the exterior of the Winchendon Town Hall has fallen behind in repairs.
Photo by Keith Kent
"The work they have started doing here with the masonry is to get us through this winter and the next few years, to buy the community time to have a discussion in terms of what their priorities are in terms of capital assets," Sultzbach explained. "A Conditions Assessment is going to get us an estimate of what it is going to cost to repair this building from top to bottom. It's not going to be cheap, and it's not something we can do overnight. So this preliminary work is going to help carry us over until the time comes that the town is ready to fix up the building.
"My goal at this point is to at least make sure we can get the building through the upcoming winter and prevent any more damage from occurring or worsening while we begin the process of finding out what all this work is going to cost, so we can present it to the voters and taxpayers of Winchendon, as ultimately it's up to them how much they want to spend. But make no doubt, these repairs are necessary."
Sultzbach added, "This is not going to be cheap. Again, this is years and years of neglect and a lack of proper upkeep. You don't have to take my word for it, the pictures show it all, and that's just what we can see. It took a long time to get to this level of needed work. I am just the messenger."
The rear of the Town Hall, which up until several years ago housed the Police Department, many years prior also served as the Fire Department. This section of the building, as Sultzbach pointed out, may be on the National Historic Register. Thick vegetation, such as vines with bark once thought to be beautifying on brick structures, have actually sealed off a long unused rear second floor emergency fire escape opening to a stairway, and have even forced open and grown in between parts of a small exterior metal hatchway door, also part of this section of the building.
On the side of the Town Hall facing Cumberland Farms, the long-term damage doesn't get much better. Rotted large window sills, large circular holes in the walls where twenty feet of vine was removed by Sultzbach, and rotted wooden hatchway framing allowing heavy rains to access the building add to the list.
From above, slate roofing is falling off in some places, allowing water damage in the roof to occur. Slate which had fallen off the side of the roof was readily viewable along the base of the building where Sultzbach pulled a brick right out of the wall. On the roof, the cupola also needs significant attention due to long-term weather damage and rot.
In closing Sultzbach explained, "The money to fix this building is not there. But we need to have a study done to highlight the problems. This is how we have to move forward to apply to try to get help from both the state and the federal level. But I will tell you this sitting there and doing nothing, isn't going to do anything for you. We must beginning addressing this problem so we can work to solve it."
This old metal access hatchway on the former police department side of the building has a thick vine growing through it even though it's bolted shut.
Photo by Keith Kent
This column of brickwork, one of many, shows how the mortar is nearly or completely missing allowing for expansion between the bricks to force them outward away from the wall.
Photo by Keith Kent
This second floor window sill is not only rotted like others around the Town Hall, but has actually expanded and separated over an inch outward from the lower window frame and the building.
Photo by Keith Kent
Sections of the front entrance granite staircase are separating and daylight can be seen shining between the individual steps.
Photo by Keith Kent
Throughout many locations around the building, holes can be found where bugs and insects which are nesting in the brick walls were visible flying in and out of the Town Hall.
Photo by Keith Kent
Bull Spit Brewing Prepares to Launch Popup Bull Yard on Central Street
Bull Spit Brewing Company, a subsidiary of Kalon Farm, is working hard on preparations for the launch of the open-air Popup Bull Yard at 270 Central Street on Friday, July 9, in optimistic defiance of what is already, after only eight days, the wettest Massachusetts July on record even before the arrival of Tropical Storm Elsa on Friday.
Set up on a broad paved lot owned by Tighe Mathieu of Mathieu Ford Sales, The Bull Yard is bounded by tall metal fencing that invokes the feel of a rodeo yard. Round and rectangular picnic tables fill the space, and a large flatbed trailer will serve as the stage for musical acts.
Rebecca Higgins from Bull Spit Brewing told the Courier that the tables will have umbrellas to shade guests from the summer sun. All servers will be trained in taking proper IDs from customers ordering alcoholic beverages. The events will be "family-friendly" and all ages are welcome in the space to enjoy the music and socializing, Ms. Higgins said. Two porta-potties are available for the use of guests.
Non-alcoholic beverages and slushies will also be served. Bull Spit is coordinating with Gabby's Pizza, Not Just Produced and potentially other Winchendon businesses who will provide take-out menus for Bull Yard guests to order food and bring it to the Bull Yard to enjoy with their beverages.
Bull Spit was approved for individual liquor licenses for each day that the Yard is open at the Board of Selectmen's meeting on Monday, June 28. At that meeting, Bull Spit's Jim Hunt said, "Our goal is to try to get everyone onto Central Street. We're just kind of working in that immediate area to begin with."
The Popup Bull Yard will be open for guests on Fridays from noon until 8:00 p.m., Saturdays from noon until 8:00 p.m. and Sundays from noon until 6:00 p.m. Musical performances will take place from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. on Sunday.
Mr. Hunt told the Board of Selectmen, "We agreed with the town to do just acoustic only on Sundays, keep it nice and mellow and relaxing...we're not in the business of putting on big concerts, even when we have the 4 Summer Drive, because we want to create an atmosphere. So we want people to come and be able to talk, and enjoy their company, and the music's just kind of there."
Scheduled musical performers will be listed in the Courier and on Bull Spit Brewing Company's Facebook and Instagram pages. Their opening weekend lineup features Ian Wilkins on Friday, Winchendon's own The BIG RanDom on Saturday and Lexi Jordan on Sunday. Ms. Higgins told the Courier that musicians are booked through July.
Kalon Farm purchased the properties at 4 Summer Drive and 15 Summer Drive, by Whitney Pond, last year. Their plans include an on-site brewing facility and a taproom, with an outside serving area overlooking the pond. Restoration of the building is proceeding slowly; Ms. Higgins told the Courier that "we're working with the town," and don't expect to open at 4 Summer Drive before this winter. (See, "Bull Spit Brewing Company To Develop Property at 4 Summer Drive" in the December 17-24, 2020 edition of The Winchendon Courier.)
Mr. Hunt requested liquor licenses to cover weekends through the end of August, saying that they'll return to the Board at that time for additional licenses for September and October.
"We're excited to come to town," Mr. Hunt told the Board of Selectmen.
It's a "Bull Market" in Winchendon as Toy Town welcomes another new business!
Photos by Inanna Arthen
