OTISFIELD — More than half of a $10,000 matching grant to help restore the Otisfield Town House has been met only one month after the Historical Society received the offer.

Henry Hamilton, president of the society, announced this week that they have received $7,500 of the $10,000 match. “That’s $15,000. We’re very happy,” he said.

Hamilton received word in February from his friend Mian Ershad Zaheen, a banker who lives in London, that Zaheen wanted to offer a $10,000 matching gift to the society to help in the site work and new foundation for the Town House on Bell Hill Road.

The wood-frame 1905 building, which has its original oak wood, chairs and voting booths, was deeded to the society by the town in 2009. Society members have been raising funds for the past few years to renovate the building to use it, in part, as a repository for the town’s archives. But the need to get the building off wetlands, while keeping its National Register placement, shot the costs up another $20,000 or so.

The work is now estimated to cost about $60,000. With the latest donations, the society has raised about $37,000 toward that goal.

Although the society had hoped to start the project this spring, Hamilton said Wednesday that it probably won’t begin until next year. But the momentum for the fundraising is helping to raise more money.

“The matching money puts us in a better position to go seek grant funding,” he said.

Hamilton said the building had to be moved off wetlands in order to preserve the foundation and basement, where they hope to keep the town archives, including documents and photographs.

To prevent the building from being removed from the National Register of Historic Places, the society’s contractor, Ken Bartow of Otisfield, came up with an idea to simply raise the building and land 54 inches so the building could remain in place.

The Maine Historical Preservation Commission approved the plan last spring.

Donations may be sent to the Otisfield Historical Society, c/o Henry Hamilton, 877 State Route 121, Otisfield, ME 04270.

Donors are requested to specify where they want the money to go if, for example, they are also paying membership dues.

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