WENDELL — The town’s old items and documents will lack a forever home until the Wendell Historical Society sets up shop at its 466 Wendell Depot Road site, a feat the nonprofit’s president said still requires raising upwards of $150,000.
Edward Hines said the former depot store and post office needs a new septic system, a new roof, a rebuilt porch and a new electrical system, as well as interior work such as insulation and sheetrock.
“We’ve just started the project,” he said on Monday. “The bulk of the project still needs to get done.”
The Historical Society, in its newest incarnation, conducted exterior work on the building using $25,000 it received out of the state’s fiscal year 2025 budget. The funding was secured by state Rep. Aaron Saunders, who toured the facility with society members in June 2023.
The Historical Society took ownership of the building in the summer of 2023, closing the sale with Kristina Hartjens, executor of the late Anna “Anny” Hartjens’ estate, on July 12, having negotiated the price down from $65,000 for the organization to be able to purchase it, using funds raised through donations.
The Wendell Depot Road site is the organization’s first-ever property. Without a formal historical society or central repository, town artifacts, books and documents were stored in the old local library (now the Wendell Senior Center) until a new one was built following the destructive July 11, 2006, tornado. Hines said items were kept in the Wendell Free Library’s “history closet” until library employees required use of the space. The items are currently stored in a private residence.
Lisa Hoag, a member of the separate Wendell Historical Commission, spoke at the July 30 Selectboard meeting to express frustration over the move. But she was assured that Historical Commission members will have access to the materials, and the plan is for Historical Commission members and library trustees to convene at the end of the month to determine which items should be returned to the library and which should be placed elsewhere until the Wendell Depot Road building is ready.
Donations to the Wendell Historical Society to support the restoration of the Wendell Depot Road building can be made at tinyurl.com/WendellDonations. Tax-deductible donations can also be sent to the Wendell Historical Society, P.O. Box 941, Wendell MA 01379.