March 28, 2024 By Carol Britton Meyer

As part of a “Reimagining Cohasset’s Historic Town Hall” presentation during this week’s Community Conversations forum, Lydia St. Onge explained — on behalf of the Cohasset Dramatic Club, Cohasset Historical Society, and South Shore Art Center — the benefits of transforming the 1857 building into a community cultural center run by non-profits to benefit Cohasset and the wider community. St Onge sits on CHS’s board of directors.

The Select Board hosted the well-attended meeting at Willcutt Commons.

“We would like to retain the use of the [historic Town Hall] as the heart of the town, a ‘meetinghouse’ where community can gather on the Common,” St. Onge said. “We want to bring the building back to its [former] glory.” Voters will ultimately have the final say at a future Town Meeting.

‘Thoughtful and historically accurate renovation’
Project proponents say this proposal provides Cohasset residents with an alternative to spending tax money to repair the historic Town Hall; supports the migration of town offices to 1 Pleasant St.;  “ensures a thoughtful and historically accurate renovation of a beloved facility”; and returns a building originally constructed as a meetinghouse back to its original purpose — “a place where people can gather.”

The goal is to expand community use of Cohasset Common year-round, including winter farmers markets, and to offer a wide variety of arts and educational programming.

This would also provide event space for families, students, and community achievements —  such as sports banquets, the Cohasset High School Red Carpet, milestone celebrations, and more.

The vision also includes continued Cohasset Dramatic Club productions, carrying on a tradition that began in 1921.

The presentation was part of a larger discussion about the future of the current Town Hall, which has been in a state of disrepair for many years.

Town Meeting, which has turned down various proposals to repair/restore the building since 2008, approved the purchase of the entire 1 Pleasant Street building at last year’s Special Town Meeting to house Cohasset’s municipal offices and potentially  residential units on the second floor, but that approval was overturned at the polls by 10 votes.

Stewarding historic preservation
Over the past several years, local entities have independently discussed possible uses and ownership models for this building, with a consistent goal of stewarding historic preservation and community access, according to an overview of the proposal.

On March 6, the Cohasset Historical Society hosted a meeting to discuss opportunities for reuse of the Town Hall building, taking a collaborative approach.

The meeting was attended by representatives of the Select Board, Advisory Board, Capital Budget Committee, and nine non-profits — including Atlantic Symphony, Cohasset Dramatic Club, Cohasset Historical Society, Cohasset Lightkeepers Corporation, Cohasset Boy and Girl Scouts, Social Service League, South Shore Art Center, and South Shore Playhouse Associates. Other non-profits have also expressed an interest in the proposal to transform the current Town Hall into a cultural and community asset.

“This was an unbelievable meeting — full of community energy, ” CHS Board of Directors President Glenn Pratt told the Cohasset Anchor.

While several different visions were proposed at the early-March meeting, all agreed with retaining the building’s historical integrity, ensuring community access and programming, and facilitating collaboration, as well as to presenting a vision for re-purposing the 41 Highland Ave. building as a community cultural center at this week’s forum, according to the overview presented to the town by the three main collaborators for the community cultural center proposal —  Cohasset Dramatic Club, Cohasset Historical Society, and the South Shore Art Center, supported by many other non-profits that all play a key role.

Early stages of discussion
Following the March 6 meeting, several of the non-profits formed a working group to talk about ways to activate 41 Highland Ave.

by restoring and renovating the historic building, maintaining its architectural integrity, seeking community input, and exploring an ownership model to transform the building into a community cultural center. The working group is in the early stages of discussion.

Each organization brings “deep-seated passion for community access to arts, culture, and education; collectively, they bring a wealth of experience in program development, fundraising, marketing, public relations, events management, facility management, historic preservation, law, finance, and collaboration,” according to project proponents.

Several of the non-profits have direct experience in facility design/development, community planning, capital campaigns, historic districts, and cultural districts.

There are also examples of similar projects in other communities that have been successful.

While it’s too early to provide more details or a timeline, the working group anticipates that the restoration would take several years, with widespread community input into the process.

Possible funding sources
If this use of the Town Hall building is approved for this purpose, restoration funds could come from a capital campaign that could include individual donors; private foundations and grants; and federal, state, and municipal funding sources such as the Massachusetts Cultural Council, Massachusetts Historic Renovation tax credits, the Massachusetts Historic Preservation Trust, Cohasset’s Community Preservation Act funds, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Such a cultural center is envisioned as a sustainable program model, with a significant percentage of revenues earned through arts education, performances, and media learning programming, rentals for community and private events, sports  banquets, partnership fees/memberships, and leasing of space to help ensure its long-term viability.

“This will take some money, and there will likely be lots of hurdles, but I feel the funds [for the project] can be raised through community supporters [and other sources] through a capital campaign,” Pratt said.

Next steps
Looking ahead, next steps for the working group include setting concrete programming goals; creating opportunities for community input; exploring a funding and ownership model; and setting a timeline.

A number of residents and Select Board members at the forum expressed an interest in the proposal.

“We could purchase [the first floor] of 1 Pleasant St. at a reasonable price for our town services and move forward with the community cultural center [proposal] at no cost to taxpayers,” Select Board Chair Jean Healey Dippold said. “I’m sure residents don’t fondly remember paying taxes at [the current Town Hall] but rather all the good memories from the plays, puppet shows, and other events [that have taken place] there. If [the decision is made to keep Town Hall on the Common], there will be a tax increase.”

The intent is to have a community cultural center proposal ready as a warrant article for voters to consider at the 2025 Annual Town Meeting.

Stay tuned for updates.