Another Preservation Success Story

PHOTO: A class photo taken at the Gale School in Belmont, NH. After a decades long effort, the 1894 stick-style building has been saved. It has been moved to a new location and will be restored by a non-profit organization.

by Brendan Smith
Weirs Times Editor

Another notch in the belt of the NH Preservation Alliance’s Seven To Save Program was achieved last week when Belmont’s Save Our Gale School Committee succeeded in their decades long goal to save the 1894 Stick-style former school house building that served students for a century.
The Save Our Gale School committee has been in existence for thirty-five years working on the project.
The Gale School ceased operation in 1985 after the Belmont Elementary School was built in 1985 and was used for storage. It was shuttered in 1997. It was listed on the NH Preservation Alliance’s Seven to Save list in 2017. Last week, a complex move of this 125-150 ton structure down a steep grade to a new lot over the course of three days prevented its demolition.
Diane Marden, chairman of the committee since its inception described the move as “a relief, but also very emotional.”

Having raised $390,000 over the years with fundraisers that included raffles for a Donna Manning oil painting, sports items and even loam, to name a few, the committee received a $110,000 grant from the Land and Community Heritage Investment Program (LCHIP) in 2018. Along the journey there were also many other donations of not only money but in kind services as well.
“I’d really like to thank the committee for their years of hard work, the community for their donations and support and all the people that worked getting this project completed,” said Marden.
The school building was moved across the street to a parcel of land donated by a Belmont resident.

DID YOU ATTEND GALE SCHOOL?
Send us some of your memories and photos for a follow-up article we will be publishing soon. Email to brendan@weirs.com or regular mail to Brendan Smith c/o Weirs Times PO Box 5458 Weirs, NH. 03247 (please enclose a SASE for photos you’d like returned.) Deadline for submissions is Thursday, August 6th.

Lakes Region Community Developers, a non-profit affordable housing organization, has agreed to take ownership of the 126 years old former schoolhouse and is exploring re-use options. Among the ideas at the moment are housing, a day care and a senior day care.
According to the Preservation Alliance website: “Generations of Belmont residents received their schooling in the Gale School classrooms. Built in 1894 and named after Napoleon Gale, who bequeathed $10,000 to the Town, the distinctive Stick-style school sat prominently in downtown Belmont. This prominence faded over the years as the Gale School yard became home to additional school buildings: a brick high school in 1937, then a middle school in 1955, then additions to the high school in 1971. A new elementary school in 1985 and a new high school in 1997 finally ended the Gale School’s usefulness by the school district.’

A post on belmontnh.net states: “This monumental building has stood tall upon the hill educating Belmont’s youth nearly 100 years, watching over the town and its people. Today this great structure stands alone as it once had in 1894, except now empty without the joy and laughter of today’s youth. It has overlooked the progress of the Shaker Regional School District, that itself, had originally created.”
The Preservation Alliance provided years of coaching and support as well as a grant in conjunction with the 1772 Foundation which works to ensure the safe passage of historic buildings and farmland to future generations.
“The tenacity and commitment of the Gale School committee members and all those involved to save this irreplaceable community landmark feels extra inspiring in these times,” said Jennifer Goodman, executive director of the NH Preservation Alliance.
The Save Our Gale School Committee officially purchased the building from the Shaker School District for one dollar.
According to Marden, there is still a lot of work to be done before the building is turned over to Lakes Region Community Development including work on the foundation as well as new windows. There also needs to be work done to fill back in the road that was used to move the school as well as planting trees, etc. That right of way for the mover was also granted by Belmont residents.

“Any money left over when we are done will be donated to Lakes Region Community Development to help them with their renovations of the building,” said Marden.
Besides the grant from LCHIP, other donations include the N.H. Charitable Foundation and its Christopher P. Williams Fund, the Juliet E. Peverly Fund and the Jeff Taylor Bean Pots to Bell Towers Fund. Eversource, Meredith Village Savings Bank, and tradespeople including Canterbury Timber, Mark Roberts and his sons of Leslie R. Roberts LLC, Geddes Building Movers and many other contributions.
Nominations are now available for the New Hampshire Preservation Alliance’s Seven to Save for 2020. The program focuses attention and resources on significant historic properties in New Hampshire that are threatened by neglect, deterioration, insufficient funds, inappropriate development, and/or insensitive public policy. Nominations are due Friday September 11th, 2020, and the announcement will be October 2020.
“We’re pleased that over half of the Seven To Save buildings are considered “saved” and off the list since the program’s inception in 2006,” said Goodman about the 98 buildings that have been listed to Seven to Save to date, with more than half saved. “Another building, the Meredith Public Library is making great progress this year. Also voters did not approve monies for the demolition of the beautiful Taylor House in Moultonboro at this year’s town meeting.”
Criteria for selection include: historical significance, imminence of threat, and potential impact of listing a site. Anyone can make a nomination.
Many owners and advocates for the former listees used the designation to help secure new ideas and investments. Many are in the process of rehabilitation, while others continue to need significant investment. A few have been lost.
If you have questions about the program, or think a certain building would benefit from such a designation, contact Nicole Flynn at seventosave@nhpreservation.org or by calling the office at (603) 224-2281.
The New Hampshire Preservation Alliance created Seven to Save in 2006 to focus attention and resources on significant historic properties in New Hampshire that are threatened by neglect, deterioration, insufficient funds, inappropriate development, and/or insensitive public policy. Criteria for selection include: historical significance, imminence of threat, and potential impact of listing a site.