Further Town Hall Repairs Estimated at $280,000

Repair plans are underway to maintain the safety of Amherst Town Hall for the coming years.

Glenn Dodge of Dodgeco, a colonial architecture, design and engineering firm, told Amherst selectmen on Monday that the repairs could cost an estimated $280,000. He estimates that the work could take three months, but could be done in two months with a larger crew.

Dodge has gone through the roof again recently to survey the damage and decide the best method of repair. He said that many of the issues he found have been around for a long time, maybe even up to fifty years.

Amherst is looking to get the repairs done as soon as possible next year in order to avoid a potential disaster from a heavy snow load. Emergency repairs were made in November after Dodge discovered that damage in the roof was worse than expected.

Some surprising details were revealed about the roof structure of town hall at Monday’s meeting. Apparently, the fact that part of the roofing system leaned on the building’s chimney may have prevented a potential collapse. Town hall’s poor insulation may have melted off potentially damaging snow loads as well.

Selectmen are proposing a $200,000 capital reserve fund town hall repairs, with a separate article taking $87,000 out of the Land Use Change Tax Fund towards this expense. A total of $12,000 was spent on the emergency repairs, where multiple support beams were installed, last year.

Amherst Town Hall was built in 1825. A total of $820,000 was raised through warrant articles to repair the building between 2002-2005, with a final total of $859,250.68 spent. The additional cost was covered by unanticipated revenue and donations. The repair work did not include the roofing structure. 

Dodge said that some of the damage occurred since these renovations, but the majority of it was already there.