Please Contribute!
PHS has successfully raised close to $300,000, approximately half of what we will need.
PHS is a 501(c.)(3) nonprofit organization. Contributions are tax-deductible.
Donations can also be sent by mail to:
Putney Historical Society
Town Hall
PO Box 233
Putney, VT 05346
Project Plan
Questions? email info@putneyhistory.us
PHS Receives 200K Grant for General Store
On March 20, 2009, Governor Douglas presented a check for over $200K to the Putney Historical Society, to pay for the stabilization phase of the project. This money gives a huge lift to the effort, including slate shingles, cleanup, roof, and soft costs including reimbursement for help generously lent by various professionals along the way. Now we feel confident we will be able to own the building! With so much work behind us, it must be possible to keep forging ahead until we've freed our charitable guarantors and finished the building—re-establishing a general store, and a new Putney Historical Society office and meeting room!
Store Operator RFP
The Putney Historical Society is seeking proposals from qualified operators for the Putney General Store. Response requirements are described in the Store Operator RFP [pdf]. We have received numerous questions from interested parties. For answers, please read this answers to RFP questions [pdf] document.
Join The Putney Historical Society's Campaign to Save the General Store
The Putney Historical Society (PHS), in a bid to restore the general store that has anchored the town center for more than 200 years, needs help from the wide community of people who know and love Putney. With the help of the Preservation Trust of Vermont, we have secured an option to purchase the General Store, and thereby prevent its destruction by the elements, or by purchase and razing by a developer. 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.
As a community-based non-profit we seek to stabilize the building and to attract grants to the project that will reduce the debt load on the development of the property. Our intention is that the building when renovated will stay on the tax roles and remain a key part of Putney's village commercial center. We believe this project will ensure the landmark at the heart of our village and Putney's beautiful small-town setting are preserved. At the same time, our efforts will help keep this spot a viable venue for a general store business and other uses. The loss of the General Store has been a blow to the community and neighboring Putney businesses. We have a real opportunity to save the building, the character of our village, and the chance for a general store to re-open. However, we won't manage this without contributions and grants from our local and corporate communities and foundations. However, we won’t manage this without contributions and grants from our local and corporate communities and foundations.
Progress
The PHS General Store Task Force was formed with members including the PHS board's community liason Lyssa Papazian, president Stuart Strothman, vice president Tim Ragle, Jeff Shumlin, George and Laura Heller, Larry Cassidy, Susan McMahon, Cor Trowbridge, and Paul Bruhn, executive director of the Preservation Trust of Vermont. Along with PHS board members and assistance from Bob Stevens, the Windham Regional Commission, and other valuable contributors, we have mounted an effort to reestablish the historic building in the heart of Putney.
In September and October, we received nearly $13K in community donations (now near $30K), and found charitable guarantors to back a loan of $100,000 for acquisition of the building. We held a community meeting with about 200 people in attendance, many of whom were PHS members. After seeing their strong support, and determining feasibility, we voted to move forward.
On November 7, we bought the General Store! We went out to bid on the stabilization contract, and selected Ingram Construction. Construction began in December. Also in December, we received a 67.5K deferred loan (like a grant) from the Vermont Housing and Conservation board, to pay back about 2/3 of our acquisition loan.
The roof trusses went up in January, a day of spontaneous celebration--children cheering on the school bus, people honking as they drove by.
Now, with the successful $200K Vermont Community Development grant presented by governor Douglas on March 20, we feel confident we will be able to own the building in perpetuity. However, we still have a long way to go until the building is finished!