PUTNEY — The Putney General Store property in the heart of the village, exposed to the elements since a May 3 fire left it roofless and damaged by water, could be stabilized before winter.
On Sept. 27, the Putney Historical Society's board of directors voted unanimously to purchase the former store, dormant since a fire that heavily damaged the 239-year-old building, after a similar unanimous decision by the task force charged with exploring the project. Approximately 200 members also overwhelmingly voted to endorse the purchase at a Sept. 21 membership meeting.
Tugce, Inc. owns the property, a former timber-frame grist mill used continuously as a general store for 165 years, a Vermont record. The corporation's president, Erhan Oge, ran the store with his wife, Tugce Okumus. The couple also operates Putney Village Pizza.
Lyssa Papazian, the board's community liaison and current point person for the project, said that the Preservation Trust of Vermont holds an option to buy the property for $105,000 and will transfer that option to the Historical Society so “we can try to close on or before Oct. 15.”
The Historical Society seeks to “prevent its destruction by the elements, or by purchase and razing by a developer,” according to a Web site developed for the effort, www.putneygeneralstore.org, where citizens can donate online. “Our goal is to own, rehabilitate, and lease the building to a general store manager, and restore the longest-running general merchandise store in the state.”
Saving the building
“The structure that's left is quite sound and very wonderful,” Papazian said, noting that one consultant, engineer Bob Stevens, recommended that the $100,000 to $120,000 cost to stabilize and clean out the building would be less expensive than demolishing and rebuilding the structure.
With the building exposed to the elements all summer, the project has taken on an urgency, said Papazian, a historic preservation consultant.
“The truth is, the building's not heavily fire damaged - it's heavily water damaged,” Papazian said.
“There were sprinkers on the first and second floor, but not in the attic. And the sprinklers worked - so the attic burned off,” she explained. “The firefighters did a great job of putting out the fire - using a great deal of water.”
Although the building was boarded and secured shortly after the fire, problems with the tarp covering the exposed second floor during “one of the rainiest summers on record” meant even more water poured in.
All that water has combined with a great deal of fire debris from the second floor, creating an environment for mold, though Stevens has indicated that “a lot of the mold will be thrown into the Dumpster,” Papazian said.
Once the Historical Society has the title to the store, stabilization operations can begin. “We have to get the construction work done before the snow flies,” she said.
“Once these goals are accomplished before winter, the property will be in community ownership, physically stable and can be safely mothballed while the rest of the long-range plans take shape,” Papazian said.
The road to ownership
Immediately after the fire, Papazian and other members of the community began working with the Preservation Trust of Vermont (PTOV), a Burlington-based nonprofit that works “to initiate, stimulate and assist local and statewide efforts to preserve and use Vermont's rich collection of historic, architectural, cultural and community resources,” according to its Web site.
Papazian said that after the fire, Executive Director Paul Bruhn “was down here within two days responding to the loss in the village.”
“He's very sensitive to the issue that if we don't have businesses in villages, we don't have villages,” she said.
After the fire, it soon became clear to Oge and Okumus, who also operate Putney Village Pizza, that insurance wouldn't be sufficient to make the repairs. Papazian said Oge and Okumus, who had listed the store for sale before the fire broke out, found very few resources available to help a for-profit business in this predicament.
Nonprofits, on the other hand, qualify for grant funding and can attract contributions because of tax incentives for donors.
So with Oge's blessing, PTOV looked for an area nonprofit, and the Historical Society stepped up to consider purchasing the property, listed in the National Register of Historic Places since 1986 and described as “a key contributing resource to the Putney Historic District.”
At its quarterly meeting Aug. 23, Putney Historical Society members voted to move ahead with the project, establishing a task force comprised of members with experience in real estate, business, historic preservation, planning, and nonprofits.
Funding the purchase
The Historical Society has received an outpouring of donations and grants.
In addition to $10,000 from members of the community, the nonprofit has received $5,000 grants from both the Preservation Trust and the Vermont Community Foundation, as well as a $10,000 feasibility grant from the Vermont Department of Housing and Conservation (VDHC).
Papazian said the Historical Society has credible assurances of more money from the VDHC and support from the Department of Commerce and Community Development, which administers federal money through the Community Development Block Grant program.
Chittenden Bank, through its Socially Responsible Banking Program, will back the project with $100,000 in the form of a loan guaranteed by 12 local families and businesses. In the event of a loan default, these “charitable guarantors” will bear the responsibility of repayment, thus protecting the Historical Society.
Other area nonprofits have stepped to the plate as well, with the Windham Regional Commission agreeing to manage the finances and reporting requirements of the grants, and the Windham Housing Trust offering to let Papazian “pick the technical brains of their staff” for the project.
Looking ahead
Once the building is stable, the Historical Society will explore a variety of options.
Papazian says the organization could continue to own the building and lease the downstairs space, or it might turn out to be more advantageous to sell the property with a deed restriction that will ensure the continued existence of a general store.
A for-profit developer could partner with the nonprofit to take advantage of tax-credit incentives that could subsidize 20 percent of the rehabilitation costs, says Papazian, describing the maze of scenarios.
Within these possibilities might lie a permanent home for the Historical Society - now headquartered in the Town Hall - on the second floor of the Putney General Store.
Papazian said that even at this early stage, several people - some local, some planning to move to the area - have expressed interest in the project and running the store, a sign that the idea shows promise.
“We haven't even asked,” she said.
“One party is quite serious in developing a business plan,” Papazian said. “Because they know that we don't know what we want to do, they're being very flexible, too.”