After Five Months, Town Hall Will Reopen Monday

The first floor of the Town Hall is about to be reopened. 

On Friday, the offices that were relocated to the Fire Department at the end of July – the Town Clerk, Community Development Office, and Tax Collection and Assessing offices – will be closed while the staff packs up and moves back to 2 Main St. 

The offices will re-open to the public as of Monday, Dec. 23.

However, according to Town Administrator Jim O’Mara, while the structural repairs to the roof are finished, there is still a bit of work to be done before the administrative offices can move into the second floor.

O’Mara said the administrative offices will be displaced for about another two weeks while some trim work and other general maintenance is completed while the floor is still vacant. 

The repairs, originally projected for completion at the end of October, were delayed about two months due in part to a delayed start, to the extra time it was taking to make very detailed repairs and in part due to some additional damage discovered when the roof was opened up.

But O’Mara said the quality of the work and the workmanship was top notch.

“I wouldn’t characterize them as carpenters, these were people I would characterize as artisans,” O’Mara said.

The level of detail the paid to maintaining the building’s historic character was tremendous, he said. They used chisels versus saws for various aspects of the work.

“Although they had a slightly delayed start, the only issue they ran into was taking time so as not to compromise the colonial integrity of the structure,” O’Mara said. "Anyone who values the character of our village area would be very pleased to see the work they’ve done."

O’Mara thanked the fire department and the school district for its willingness to take them into their buildings for all these months.  The customer service offices were located at the Safety Complex where visitors were able to walk in on a day-to-day basis. 

Because the administrative offices were located at the Middle School and they couldn’t have unannounced visitors walk in, they conducted appointments at the library for five months.

O’Mara said they went to the school expecting to have some space to fill while repairs were made, but what they got was much more.

“The school district was very gracious,” O’Mara said. “They treated us like special guests.”

The structural deficiencies with the roof were discovered last November and residents approved repairs at Town Meeting to the tune of more than $287,000. In July, the Board of Selectmen awarded the job to Turnstone Corp., who submitted a project proposal of $279,000.