WELD – It will be up to the town’s voters in March if they want to submit an application for the old town hall, still used for many events including town meetings, to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The two-story building adjacent to Houghton Brook was built in 1922, selectmen’s Chairman Nancy Stowell said.

An article will be put on the town meeting warrant for voters to decide, she said.

The town bought the Mystic Tie Lodge from the Masons years ago, she said.

If the building was listed on the register, it would open up more opportunities for grant money and low-interest loans to be used to repair the structure and preserve it as is, she said.

The town was denied a $5,000 historic preservation grant request in August for repairs to the old town hall, Stowell said.

“We’d just have more chance of getting grant money,” she said, if the building was listed on the register.

Grant money is very tight these days, she said, but when it does come through it eases the burden on taxpayers to make repairs to the building. Being able to get a low-interest loan would also help, she said.

Two residents attended the public hearing on the issue last week, she said, and voiced concerns over getting involved with the state about the up-keep of the building. They also noted, she said, that townspeople wouldn’t hesitate to raise money for repairs to the building.

Possible projects that may need to be addressed in the next 20 years, she said, are replacement of the septic system, if it fails, and a new well.

People using the building still depend on the original 1922 septic system and drinking water for all events has to be carried into the hall because the well water is not potable, Stowell said.

Something that would have to be addressed before Weld’s bicentennial in 2016, she said, is painting, caulking and repairing the building’s 42 windows.

SAD 9 still holds gym classes at the hall for the children attending Weld Elementary School, she said. Fundraising events, dances, meetings and public benefit dinners are also held there.