GILL — The Historical Commission is one step closer to its goal of reopening the Riverside Municipal Building to the public following asbestos testing that came back negative.
Members of the Historical Commission informed the Selectboard last week about the findings following an informal visit by Jim Hawkins, building commissioner with the Franklin Regional Council of Governments (FRCOG), and a preliminary asbestos test by TRC Companies, which collected material from the exterior and interior of the building.
Historical Commission member Bob Perry said he wanted to discuss two points with the Selectboard: the status of asbestos and the possible repairs.
“One of them is the elephant that’s not in the room,” Perry prefaced, “and that is that we received a report back from the firm that examined 14 samples of debris from the [Riverside Municipal Building], and the report indicates that of the 14 samples, none contain asbestos, which is good news.”
The three-room building, located at 54 French King Highway, is the former Riverside School, built in 1926. Two of the rooms were occupied by the former Four Winds School, which closed in 2024. Today, the Historical and Riverside Water commissions occupy the right-hand side. The middle room is expected to house larger exhibit items and historical displays.
Since before the pandemic, the Historical Commission’s museum inside the building has been closed to the public. Now, the commission wants to open up its collection of Gill historical photos, documents and other artifacts to the public for viewing, as long as the building is secure and accessible.
Perry explained that these 14 samples were collected from various areas of the building, including eight samples of building debris from outside the building; two samples from inside the building from plaster that had fallen off the walls; two samples from a package of old, unused roof shingles stored in the building’s basement; and two samples from the tar paper that would go under the shingles.
With negative results from these samples, Perry explained that this means the plaster, which was an original concern for containing asbestos, is safe for hanging photos, as the dust from the plaster doesn’t contain any of the hazardous material. With this preliminary inspection secured, Perry said the town can accept this report or get a second report with more samples taken for extra assurance.
Historical Commission Chair Kit Carpenter said in an interview that the concern about the presence of asbestos was a “huge barrier” in the effort to reopen the building, especially since the plaster status was unknown for a time. She reiterated the commission’s eagerness to get the building back open to the public.
The other part of this progress toward reopening is the list of improvements that the building will need, which Perry described as not being “insurmountable” in nature.
Some of these recommendations include repairing the handrails on the access ramp on the east side of the building, ensuring all emergency lighting fixtures are working, labeling the bathroom as “unisex” and installing a pull handle on the door, among other proposals.
After some discussion about the responsibilities of the Historical Commission versus what the Selectboard is willing to support, town officials reached a consensus that the Historical Commission would look over the list of comments made by Hawkins to assess what can be done by volunteers and what would require further discussion with the Selectboard.
