Renovation of the Southborough Historical Society is almost done. How it will be used

SOUTHBOROUGH — In a major construction project, some delays can be anticipated. Paperwork can take longer than expected, or materials may be in short supply. But other interruptions, such as hitting a spring that results in rapidly gushing water, are more difficult to plan for.

"We hit an artesian well in the basement when we were excavating the old one, and they literally hit a spring," Southborough Historical Society President Michael Weishan said of workers. "On Christmas Day two years ago, we had literally four feet of water in our basement. A friend of mine said it was too bad we were not opening a brewery."

The Southborough Historical Society is restoring the old Fayville Village Hall building — a project that began in 2022 and is tentatively expected to be completed this fall.

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"We are about 90% done with the project," Weishan said. "What is missing are some of the interior features. We are waiting for bits and pieces — part of the delay has been COVID-related supply chain shortages. We waited nine months for the windows to arrive, for example. We are still waiting for the elevator, which is probably another five months out."

Fayville Village Hall was built in 1911 as meeting house, social space

The building, at 42 Central St., was originally constructed in 1911 by Civil War veterans as a meeting house and social space. Over the years it hosted numerous community events and served as a hub for Fayville, one of Southborough's three incorporated villages (Cordaville and Southville are the others).

"It was originally built as a meeting place by veterans of the Civil War as their lodge home," Weishan explained. "It sounds funny to us now, but Southborough was four separate villages and walking between them was not exactly quick. So each community had a little place to meet, and this was the one in Fayville. At the time, it had its own self-contained area, its own tavern, its own grocery store, its own blacksmith, all right there."

The plan for the new village hall is for it to be used in a way that's similar to its original purpose. While it will serve as a home and archive for the Southborough Historical Society, the hall will have plenty of space for additional events and activities, including weddings and parties.

"The Historical Society is only going to take up about one quarter of the space," said Weishan, who hosted the public television series "The Victory Garden," from 2001-07 and has authored two books about Southborough. "The rest of the space can be dedicated toward not only history, but humanity and the arts. We need an active center for the arts."

He said the entire second floor, the original dance hall, contains about 1,400 square feet with 20-foot high ceilings.

"It can be used for weddings, showers, public meetings and lecture series," Weishan said. "There is a separate small catering kitchen that can be used there. The whole basement is a gigantic classroom space, where we will have a very active programing for arts, drawing, tap dancing — you name it, we have every type of activity interested in it. This is going to be a history and art space."

The building had been owned by the town, but was sold to a private owner, Jon Delli Priscoli. He sold the building to the Southborough Historical Society for a modest $100 in 2022. The society then began work on restoring the decaying building for new use.

Project funded by sale of a copy of the Declaration of Independence

The project, which Weishan said has cost well over $1 million, was funded by the sale of a copy of the Declaration of Independence, which the society had possessed for generations.

"We had a copy, which was one of 32 copies that were handed out throughout Massachusetts," he said. "When the Declaration of Independence was first made, a copy was made and sent to each capital of the 13 colonies, and a printed copy was disseminated to principal congregations of different towns, and Southborough was one of them. In my opinion, we have far more interesting documents, Indian treaties and things like that, certainly rarer documents. (But) The value of that particular document, this broadsheet copy, has skyrocketed in recent years."

The copy was listed by Sothebys as being worth an estimated $1.5 million to $1.8 million, and was sold to a private bidder. The proceeds were put toward restoration of Fayville Village Hall, and were needed, according to Weishan, due to additional challenges with restoring the building.

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One of those challenges was that the Planning Board ruled that because the building was having its use changed, new applications and work would need to be done to reach new compliance levels — something Weishan said has cost hundreds of thousands of additional dollars.

"They decided that this was a change of use from an auction gallery and art house," he said. "With the change of use, we had to resubmit our application, despite having an active building permit. We hired a counsel, we had to spend $65,000 to re-engineer what had already been engineered and approved, and we went through this entire process again, which added probably $100,000 to $150,000 in funding that should have gone into the building."

Planning Board chair says previous site plan approval had lapsed

Meme Luttrell, chair of the Southborough Planning Board, said the previous application that was filed with the town had lapsed by the time the Southborough Historical Society approached the town with its plans, and that forced the society to file a new application.

"The previous site plan approval lapsed in 2021; therefore, new site plan approval was required whether or not the use changed," Luttrell told the Daily News. "In 2019, a site plan for an auction house, antique shop and fine art gallery was approved for that site, which lapsed in 2021."

Unexpected expenses, such as the well being hit during excavation, have driven the cost of the project higher and delayed its expected 2023 opening, Weishan said. However, he said the society is on track to open the building later this year, and is excited to bring it back as a community center.

"The truth is, we could have demolished the building and built a duplicate at the same site for a fraction of the cost," Weishan said. "However, now we have the same property, but it is built to last another 100 years. It's got a new foundation, proper insulation, we have solar power for the building. We are very excited to be able to bring this property to Southborough. It has been a very long, long road, but everyone we talk to in town can't wait for this thing to open."

This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: New Southborough Historical Society museum, hall opening this year