NORWAY — A timber-framed warming hut with room for equipment storage is expected to be raised at the Roberts Farm Preserve in January, Lee Dassler of the Western Foothills Land Trust said.
“(We’re) trying to get it up before ski season really hits in February,” she said.
The 16- by 36-foot structure will have two unheated bays for storing equipment such as track setters and groomers. The third bay will be insulated with a small wood stove to use as a warming hut. The structure will be “off grid,” using solar or a generator for light and power, she added.
Dassler said the footings for the building were poured about two weeks ago, before the ground began to freeze. The framing timbers are being cut, mortised and tenoned in the greenhouses at Moose Pond Gardens in Otisfield.
The structure will be raised with volunteer help, she said.
The Western Foothills Land Trust received notice last month that two grants had been approved for the hut funding: one from the Davis Conservation Foundation and the other from the Betterment Fund. Dassler said the Betterment Fund grant was submitted jointly by the Oxford Hills School District and the Land Trust to fund the hut and a drilled well. The water from the well will service the Garden to School program at the Roberts Farmstead.
“The two wonderful grants that were received bring us to $27,000,” Dassler said.
Because the budget for the building alone was $32,000, Dassler said contractors Shawn Kane and Scott Vlaun are cutting costs wherever they can.
“I’ve contacted several area building supplies stores to see if they could provide partial donations on materials,” she said, such as doors, windows, insulation, metal roofing, and a crane to raise the frame.
Dassler said Maine Green Building Supply, Buy the Fire Wood Stoves and Everlast Roofing are assisting in the project, along with Elinor Goodwin and her daughter Alice who have offered to purchase a door or window for the project. Dassler said private and business donations are welcome.
ldixon@sunjournal.com
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- This image, created by Oxford Hills Technical School CAD student Dayna Schultz, shows what the warming hut at Roberts Farm Preserve in Norway will look like. Because the location of the hut changed after the design was done, the heated part of the hut will be on the left while the equipment bays will be on the right side of the building. The warming hut will be raised this winter.
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- The footings for the new warming hut at Roberts Farm Preserve in Norway were recently poured. The hut will be raised this winter.
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