COMMUNITY CENTER PLANS

Since the Town voted to accept Edith Wilson's bequest in 1996, citizen committes appointed by the Select Board have been at work on ideas for preserving the house and land. In the fall of 2004, the current committee adopted the plan of forming a private, non-profit Massachusetts corporation which could raise funds privately from donations and grants to create the Community Center without requiring town funds raised through taxation, which had always been the major stumbling block. The Friends of Wilson McLaughlin House, Inc., was born, secured its IRS 501(c)(3) non-profit status, and received a unanimous vote of approval at the May 2005 Town Meeting. At the meeting we requested and received town support for leasing the property while we raise the required funds to rework the building into a Community Center and to create a maintenance endowment for the center's ongoing support.

BRIEF HISTORY

In August 2006 we completed an ambitious plan with our architect Steve McAlister (of Clark & Green, Great Barrington) which intended to restore the 23' x 30' farmhouse's exterior while using the interior as one large space, and constructing an addition to provide kithchen and bathroom facilities as well as smaller meeting spaces and storage.

Townspeople reacted positively to the plan but not to the estimated pricetag. Since a good part of the construction cost was related to using the old house, we approached the Selectboard with the idea of obtaining a release from that provision of Edith's will. In January 2007, the Town initiated a petition to the Berkshire Probate Court, and in May 2008 the permission was granted. The new ruling allows the Town to satisfy the conditions of the will with a different structure instead of having to use the farmhouse, which would have saved about 40% of the original construction cost.

However when the economic situation deteriorated later in 2008, it was clear that not even that cost would be within reach of public fundraising.

THE CURRENT PLAN

We have determined that it would be feasible and relatively inexpensive to renovate the house's first (main) floor for use as a community center, though a smaller and less adaptable one. Thorough research by architect Steve McAlister and consultation with Building Inspector Don Torrico have allowed us to reach the decision to apply for a Building Permit for this renovation.

The first order of business has been to repair and reshingle the roof, for which we had sufficient funds in our coffers from prior fundraising. The roofing was completed in late July 2009.

In Spring of 2010, we started a Community Garden in the north field; all 18 plots are being used by Monterey citizens for vegetable, herb and flower growing (see the Garden page).

Further work on the house will require community support before we can proceed; we're accepting donations of funds now, and we always have a need for volunteers. In 2010 our goal is to have all the hazardous materials removed from this old building, and then to start making repairs on the structure from the basement up.