The Woodstock Grange circa 1892.

WOODSTOCK — A committee that has been studying options for the future of Woodstock’s old Grange Hall recommended to selectmen last week that the town repair it and make it available for public use. The question will go before voters at Town Meeting in March.

Three options were researched: repair, demolition or sale.

In a presentation to the board last week, committee member Walt Staples said demolition and disposal would cost about $100,000. Sale would mean the town would lose control of the property, located on Main Street next to the library. The building also shares its water supply with three adjacent buildings, possibly complicating a sale.

Structurally, “it’s in very good shape,” he said, needing only cosmetic attention such as paint.

The town bought the building from the Grange in 2019.

To be brought up to code it would need smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, crash bars on exit doors upstairs and a rear stairway emergency exit with firewalls.

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The downstairs is currently still usable for groups of less than 50 people.

The heating system is old, Staples said, and could potentially be replaced by a heat pump for three-season use.

Staples said the building has been included on the state historical register, and an application for the National Register of Historic Places has been submitted, with optimism it will be approved. That would open up the possibility of grants for repairs and improvements, he said.

Staples presented a slide show to the board and provided a history of the building. It was built by Grange members and completed in a year and a half, in 1892.

The Grange has an upstairs auditorium with a stage. Downstairs is a dining and kitchen area. At one time the front half was walled off and used as a general store until 1932. The downstairs interior walls were then changed for different uses.

The Woodstock Grange today. Submitted

In more modern history the upstairs was used for Hee Haw and other shows, dances and wedding receptions.

The selectmen thanked the committee members for their work and approved sending the issue to a Town Meeting vote.

The committee members, in addition to Staples, are Larry Bonney, Barbara Haskell, Deb Hays, Lynn Michaud, Bob McQueeney and Marcel Polak.

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