Granby Preservation Society

To all supporting our cause, Granby Preservation Society would like to sincerely THANK YOU! Every coin, gift certificate and raffle item, trees and item in the Festival of Trees, items for the tag sales, car owner at the Car Shows, every patron walking the Haunted House, every donor, sponsor, volunteer, child actor, GPS member, vendor and business, every present wrapped at the Hampshire Mall. What a Christmas present you gave to Granby 12/25/2019. Not only was the $75,000 threshold met, it was surpassed on 12/24/2019. The extra will be used toward the next major project the Corporation is saving to accomplish in the coming years.

We met the project goal of 75 thousand dollars the end of December 2019, the entire building was painted this spring. We depleted our savings account for projects, but it was worth it, everyone is telling us the building looks beautiful. Thank you for all your support!

After painting the front of the building in April of 2018 at a cost of $32,000 (which included professional labor, materials, paint), we raised the remaining $42,972 needed to complete the two sides and back of the building. We raised the additional amount through all of our 2019 fund raisers with the final dollars received on 12/24/2019 during the annual gift wrapping event at the Hampshire Mall. Total donations for her painting to date is $75,000 and was painted this spring Thank you so much for your sustaining support! We couldn't have done this without each and every one of our supporters.

With the help of many businesses and organizations (small and large), members and many volunteers within and outside the Granby Community, GPS has done the following to

Kellogg Hall:

* put in a working boiler,

* determined the prior historic paint colors,

* replaced missing or damaged exterior shakes,

* patched or replaced missing historical architectural features,

* restored or replaced historical windows,

* fixed missing or broken soffits and fascia,

* replaced missing clapboards,

* painted the front exterior,

* replaced the roof over the safes,

* repaired the front and back stairwells,

* installed a handicap ramp,

* pointed the exterior chimneys,

* drylocked and painted the safes,

* installed shelves for storage in the safes,

* removed all the offices / walls on the second floor,

* restoring the trim and window sills then painting the walls/trim in the auditorium

* installed a new well pump

* painted four interior offices, currently painting a fifth on the first floor

* restoring the broken wall in the front stairwell entry

* COMPLETD THE PAINTING OF THE 3 REMAINING SIDES !!!

Kellogg Hall Annex :

* put a new roof

* painted the exterior of the garages.

* Installed a divider wall between Bay 1 & 2

We also had a structural assessment by a professional engineer that specializes in historical buildings and the building has been certified as structurally sound. We are occupying and having many events in the building as well as providing meeting space to requesting organizations in town that have no other place to meet.

The priority this year :

Right now we are working on the Occupancy Project and Site Plan. This allows us to hold events in and outside the building without requesting occupancy permits for every event.

We are continuing the restoration of the woodwork in the auditorium. We are patching the holes and cuts made in the chair rails, window casings and sills. Door knobs and other hardware are missing so we are trying to find matching items to these original features. The floors will be redone and we have been contacted by a former resident with family in Granby, willing to help get that done. Painting of the walls is also in progress.

For the future we would like to install an elevator to provide a means of access to the second floor for those unable to climb the stairs. We have been approached by various entities in the town to use the second floor for their events which is part of our mission as an organization. If you know someone that would like to donate an elevator, we are happy to speak with them. Call and leave a message on our office phone, 413-255-0712.

Many grants have macthing fund needs, with the requirement that those applying must have the entire project cost in hand, and once the project is completed they will disperse 50% of the entire project monies back to the applying organization. Many grants require architectural studies prior to applying for preservation grants and organizations have to pay prevailing wages as required by governmental guidelines which adds to project costs. We chose to fix the envelope of the building outside the grant process with the limited monies we generate from our memberships, donations and fund raisers to prevent further deterioration of the building. We still have operating costs, like insurance, electricity, heating and real estate taxes which we have to pay and can't devote all our monetary resources to applying for grants. Preservation grants do not cover any utility systems, nor elevators, so we will have to fund raise for those projects and try to get the best estimates and use volunteer labor judiciously to accomplish these projects.

This restoration is going into it's seventh year. Quite a journey with very visible results. Our on going fund raiser at the moment, is the Monyhly Calendar which will help continue to raise funds for the restoration of this grand Queen Anne in the Center Historic District of Granby. The year of 2020 has been challenging for everyone. We are trying to run fund raiser online to continue the quest of restoration, to keep our community and supporters safe, healthly and entertained. It's difficult but rewarding to know we are managing to accomplish the projects long in the works, but realize that future projects may take longer to accomplish. Right now we keep our monetary projects small and attainable until we can run larger events. We hope you continue to participate in our events so GPS can continue to restore this historic building! Thank you for your continued support!

The painting of the building's remaing sides was completed in June of 2020 during the Civd-19 pandemic. Luckily we raised all the required funds by Decmber of 2019 with our final fund raising activity of gift wrapping at the Hadley Mall 2019. It was a welcome Christmas present for the entire membership and patron of the Granby Preservation Society and we are very appreciative to have met the goal before the pandemic shut down all our fund raising activities.