ATHOL – Town Manager Shaun Suhoski briefed the Selectboard at its meeting Tuesday on a proposal for work on the roof of the Bidwell Barn on South Athol Road.

The barn has been a subject of disagreement among those who would like to see the structure preserved and others who want it razed. At the 2023 fall Town Meeting, voters approved spending $9,400 for a structural assessment of the barn.

In February 2024, the engineering firm of Stevens & Associates of Brattleboro, Vermont, issued a report which stated, among other things, “The slate roof is in need of significant maintenance. Being an agricultural building, this roof likely received a minimal amount of maintenance and reportedly has not seen any maintenance in at least the last 15 years that the town has owned it. (A) few roof leaks have caused significant structural damage…”

Fixing the leaks, according to the report, “Should be treated as the highest priority repair that the barn needs most urgently in order to preserve its current condition and avoid additional deterioration.”

Stevens & Associates submitted estimates for work on the roof, Suhoski told the board.

“There are two prices here,” he said. “There’s total pricing of $19,350, which includes full design, bid documents, and construction administration for stabilization and protection of the roof/cupola and chimney. Within that total proposal is what they call a pre-design stage, which includes a conditions assessment report on the roof and those structures – they’ll come out and do a site visit – and actual measured drawings, which they would do for a fee of $3,350.”

The latter number is the amount the town has left of the $9,400 approved by voters. The $19,350 does not include any repair work.

Suhoski noted that the Historical Commission had asked that it be involved in any decision on the roof. No one from the commission appeared before the board at Tuesday’s meeting.

“We’ve gotten a lot of correspondence from the Historical Commission that they want to be actively involved, that they want to save this barn,” said board member Rebecca Bialecki. “Great. But aside from just spending what we have left, which is very specifically only for this purpose, I don’t think we should be spending another dime without some money ponied up from the Historical Commission. You want the barn? You find a way to raise the funds to fix it.”

“We’re not sure right now how much it will cost to fix the roof,” Planning and Development Director Eric Smith told Bialecki. “We need to have an estimate to tell us how much it wall take to fix the roof. My understanding is that that $3,300 will get us that.”

Bialecki then made a motion that the board approve the amount of $3,350 to undertake the pre-design process regarding work on the Bidwell Barn.

“It’s all well and good, but we can’t afford to put a slate roof on that building,” said board member Andy Sujdak. “I’ll guarantee it. I don’t think anyone can even fathom what it’s going to cost to do that. It’s nice to have lofty goals and ambitions and hopes for that barn, but there are better alternatives than spending money to get a design for a slate roof. There are better alternatives. I feel that this is a waste of money.”

“I respect what you’re saying,” Smith interjected. “I don’t think this is a decision on whether it’s a slate roof or not. I think the decision on whether it’s slate or an alternative is going to happen after you get this report.”

Once Bialecki reiterated that the money in question was specifically committed to the Bidwell Barn project and couldn’t be used for anything else, the board voted unanimously to go ahead with the pre-design work.

The barn became the property of the town when voters approved an expenditure of $500,000 to purchase the 100-acre Bidwell property. According to the structural assessment completed by Stevens & Associates, the barn was constructed circa 1858. The report said the barn is categorized as a Gable-Front Bank Barn, also known as a Yankee Barn.

Greg Vine can be reached at gvineadn@gmail.com.