WELD – Selectmen will hold a public hearing today to get feedback on possible submission of the former Weld Town Hall/Mystic Tie Lodge for listing on the National Register of Historic Places.

The hearing to discuss the pros and cons of pursuing a place for the building on the list will be held as part of the selectmen’s meeting that begins at 6:30 p.m. today at the town office.

Selectman Nancy Stowell requested a National Register information form and other materials pertaining to Weld Town Hall last fall while she and Ted Simanek were working on a comprehensive plan for the town, according to a chronology of events compiled by Stowell.

In March, notice from the Maine Historic Preservation Commission arrived that noted the old town hall is eligible for nomination for the National Register of Historic Places.

In August, the New Century Community Program rejected a historic preservation grant request of $5,000 to Weld for repairs to the old town hall.

On Sept. 1, an architectural historian, Christi Mitchell, came for a site visit to photograph and document the Old Town Hall/Mystic Tie Lodge in preparation of nominating the building at the October 2006 meeting of the Maine Historic Preservation Commission, Stowell’s outline states.

There are several other town halls listed in the register, Stowell stated.

Many are still used for performances, meetings and voting. They include halls in Parsonsfield, Union, Portland, Biddeford, Waterville, Wayne, Lewiston, Saco, Augusta, Greenwood, Turner, Vienna, Fryeburg, Otisfield and Salem, she stated.

If placed on the National Register, all repairs to the building using federal or state funds would have to meet standards for preservation rather than restoration, she said.

Preservation is defined as the act or process of applying measures necessary to sustain the existing form, integrity and material of a historic property, she stated.