GILL — More than 30 residents packed the Riverside Municipal Building on Monday for a standing-room-only meeting that discussed the future use of the historic school building and established a committee to move forward with repairing or replacing the roof.
Exploring the use of this building has been a topic of discussion between the Selectboard, Historical Commission and Finance Committee for months. Selectboard Chair John Ward explained that Monday’s meeting comes as a result of discussions on whether money should be allocated toward building repairs and reuse amid the imminent need to address the leaking roof.
“Every time we brought up the idea of, ‘We need to do something, we need to do something now, we need to fix this roof,’ somebody on the Finance Committee or somebody on the Selectboard said, ‘Well, what is the long-term vision for this building? What are we going to do with this building? Does it make sense to put the money into it now or does it make sense to do something different?'” Ward said. “That’s what made this meeting happen.”
The three-room building, located at 54 French King Highway, is the former Riverside School, and was 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.
Floating ideas
During the two-hour discussion, residents had a variety of ideas for the three-room building: a community space for meetings, a museum to house artifacts and information on the Great Falls Massacre archaeological study, using land around the building for neighborhood recreation or providing a space for public tech support sessions.
The Historical Commission made progress earlier this year on assessing the state of the building through a visit by the building inspector. A negative asbestos test cleared a hurdle toward reopening the space to the public.
Historical Commission members have discussed with the Selectboard their hope to get the museum back open to the public, and to have the building be open for meetings and events.
Historical Commission member Bob Perry read from an information sheet that was passed out to attendees detailing the history and significance of the building, like how it’s in a nationally registered historic district, serves as a place to study Gill family genealogy and is located on land where the Great Falls Massacre of 1676 occurred.
Lynn Tomb, a former member of the Historical Commission, expanded upon what Perry noted about the location of the building in relation to the Great Falls Massacre. She explained her thoughts on how the building could be used to highlight the findings of the Battlefield Grant Advisory Board, which worked to study the Great Falls Massacre as part of a multi-year National Park Service grant. She noted the number of artifacts found by archaeologists who worked on the project, and shared a possibility for some type of exhibit.
“We have no place in the town of Gill or the town of Montague to display any of them,” Tomb said. “We have no place to tell the story about what happened, and it’s a huge thing.”
On top of its historical interests, Karen Larsen of the Cultural Council noted her thoughts on the potential for the building to host activities outside of Historical Commission and municipal use.
Besides direct reuse of the building, some residents expressed an interest in the land around it. Sam Plotkin shared that he and his young family would be interested in seeing if a playground or other outdoor use could be explored, given the limited outdoor space around Riverside. Donald Shebell shared an idea for a farmers market, with local musicians performing, and the Historical Commission having access to two rooms of the building, while the third would be open for farmers to sell their products.
Residents also made it clear what they would not like to see happen, including no commercial or large housing developments in the event that the building is not reused, as it is located in a densely packed part of Gill. During an informal show of hands on who would like to see the building maintained, the majority of those in attendance indicated they’d like to keep the building in the town’s possession.
Elephant in the room
However, before these ideas can be further investigated, the elephant in the room was discussed: the leaking roof.
To help separate out priorities, resident Robert Marcalow shared his perspective on separating the issue of the roof and the reuse of the building as two different topics. He said he feels there needs to be a “longer study process” behind the reuse of the building, and involvement from the community.
Some residents emphasized the need for the roof to be fixed, along with what funding the town has available to accomplish these repairs and other improvements.
Residents like Ray Steele mentioned discussions on the roof condition in previous municipal meetings. A Greenfield Recorder article from 1992 details efforts to manage the state of town buildings via a building committee, including the Riverside Municipal Building. Years later, voters rejected a Selectboard proposal to declare the building as surplus during a 2009 Town Meeting, and a committee was formed to assess its future use, according to a 2011 Greenfield Recorder article.
Steele raised the question of what funding the town has access to, given some of the previous grants and allocations made during Town Meetings for the building. In 2022, Town Meeting voters approved putting $20,000 in free cash toward the roof replacement and a feasibility study, adding to an existing $23,000 from a 2018 allocation. The town also received $5,000 from a FirstLight Sustains grant in 2023 for step repairs on the building.
“My point is, we’ve got money sitting for great plans, and we’re looking at other things, saying, ‘Oh, can’t do it because we don’t have the money,'” Steele said.
Finance Committee Chair Claire Chang then spoke to the pace of the roof replacement. Following the roof leak that started in September, she said the town wasn’t “in a position” to try to figure out next steps. The topic was revisited this year during budget season, with Chang noting the urgent need for repairs to avoid damage to the building and Historical Society’s collection.
“However,” Chang began, “the gears of government move very slowly. We’re an entirely volunteer group of folks. We totally would welcome any and all of you to join in the effort of trying to govern through the town, and make decisions and understand what the issues are.”
Moving the gears
Tomb shared her interest in getting the process moving, saying “sign me up” while speaking to concerns that some residents raised over the town’s timeliness in maintaining the building and using the money available to them.
Selectboard member Jenn Waldron called the question toward the end to begin the process of establishing a committee for addressing building reuse planning, and to get names written down to start gathering interest.
Town Administrator Ray Purington encouraged that a committee to address the roof be formally appointed by the Selectboard before Monday’s meeting adjourned, noting that “time is of the essence.” Five people volunteered, including Steele, Perry, Marcalow, Stephen Greenwald and Charles Garbiel II of the Selectboard. Applause followed.
While no appointments have been made yet, Waldron began collecting names of people who are interested in looking more closely at reuse of the building. Those who are interested in joining this committee are encouraged to reach out to her or Purington directly at administrator@gillmass.org or 413-863-9347.
