Central Hall work continues

By Stuart Hedstrom 
Staff Writer

    DOVER-FOXCROFT — For over two and a half years, work has been done to renovate Central Hall on East Main Street. The project is comprised of converting the late 19th century building into a senior and multigenerational community center and adult day services facility on the first floor, with the second floor becoming an event space.

    “Walk in here and this will be the senior center,” said Chris Maas, who has been involved in the various aspects of the Central Hall project over the last few years, during a recent tour of the building first constructed from 1881-82. After entering through the front entrance, visitors will pass the to-be-constructed elevator and the new addition on the west side of the building before coming to the space for the Commons at Central Hall. This area can house organizations such as Senior Network and other non-profits and social service agencies with kitchen space provided.
    Toward the back of the first floor, which currently has numerous studs in place for the various walls, will be the adult day services center. The center will have its own kitchen, a dining space, quiet rooms, common area and bathrooms with showers and laundry facilities. “Whatever they need to take care of people through the course of a day we will do,” Maas said.
    The plans are for the adult day services center to accommodate nearly 20 patients, using a medical model with nurses being able to dispense medications. The main entrance for this portion of Central Hall will be in the back, with other doors locked for safety.
    Another kitchen area will be part of the second-floor event center space, “which we think makes this tremendously more useful,” Maas said. “We plan to have everything in it that you need for catering.” The upper floor of Central Hall will be the sustainability component of the renovation project, as once again the space will house a number of events and can be rented for weddings, parties, receptions and more.
    Throughout the building, hazardous materials such as lead paint and asbestos have been removed. Once this cleanup has been finalized the electrical work can begin, with the intention that this be done by local contractors as efforts have been made throughout the project to use materials and labor from the area whenever possible.
    Once the wiring is in place, insulation and drywall will be put in. New windows will be installed later in the year as well as new siding on the exterior.
    Maas said the goal is to complete the second floor first, which will make the space available for the community and also not have construction noise when the downstairs is open.
    “This is all being done under the auspices of the Maine Highlands Senior Center,” Maas said, mentioning a board of directors of about 10 oversees the project (please go to http://mainehighlandsseniorcenter.org for more information). He said Dr. Lesley Fernow has been serving as the driving force behind the location to serve the needs of the region’s aging population.
    Central Hall is currently owned by the Dover-Foxcroft Historical Society, this will continue until the end of the brownfields clean-up funds. More monies will need to be raised for other project components, and in the future an endowment and capital reserve would provide funding going forward.
    Maas said Central Hall used to cost the town of Dover-Foxcroft about $25,000 annually to maintain, and simply tearing down the building would have been beyond the community’s financial means. Once the project has been completed, the hope is costs would be covered by the occupants and those renting the second floor, with Central Hall also fitting a big health care need in the region.
    “I think we owe our success to (Dr. Fernow) and our Clerk of the Works Elwood Edgerly, I think the town’s lucky to have them both,” Maas said.

Observer photos/Stuart Hedstrom

    FROM THE 19TH TO 21ST CENTURY — Renovations continue at Central Hall, including (from above) the addition on the west side of the building, the first floor and the second floor. The addition will house an elevator and fire escape, the lower level will be the home of an adult day services and senior and meeting center and the second floor will serve as an event center.