The North Pownal Community Club is marking the end of a two-year project with an open house Sunday.

The preservation of the North Pownal Community Club is complete, and club members are ready to celebrate with an open house on Sunday, Oct. 18.

Alan Bradstreet, who was front and center in the two-year project to restore the historic building, wants everyone in the community to feel welcome and enjoy a meal. In this case, it means bringing your own food, plates, utensils, glasses, napkins – whatever is needed – because there is no running water in the humble-looking building, constructed in 1826 as a country store. There is an “inside” outhouse that juts out of a corner of the building.

“We want people to get out and see this,” said Bradstreet, who lives directly across Lawrence Road from the community club. “We want to celebrate the preservation, to thank all the volunteers for their time and money and to perpetuate social interaction and community.”

The two-year project entailed more than 600 hours of labor and community donations of approximately $4,000. Bradstreet prefers the term “preservation.”

“It’s not a restoration – it’s difficult to restore a building with many, often poorly constructed, additions,” he said. “And not a renovation. The goal was not to make it look and feel like new construction. But something in the middle, a preservation, retaining as much of the look and essence of what it was and making repairs to sustain it for many years to come.”

Bradstreet’s wife, Sue, and Bruce and Johnna White are among the many North Pownal Community Club members who had a hand in the project.

“Bruce White did a ton of work,” Bradstreet said. “He saw something happening and wanted to be part of it.”

White said he is not typically a joiner of organizations.

“It’s the work that I enjoy,” he said. “It draws people from the community. When you get people out working for the common good, it’s fun.”

White said that he did much of the siding and window replacement. Some of the bigger jobs, such as studding and sills, had to be hired out, he said.

In addition to a meal, the Oct. 18 open house will feature a display of archival photographs of the building, in conjunction with the Pownal Scenic and Historical Society. There will also be many historic photos of the North Pownal community on display.

“North Pownal was the heart of a farming community 100-plus years ago, with a country crossroads boasting a general store, a church, a blacksmith shop, a harness shop, a one-room school house, a meeting hall, a local doctor and more,” Bradstreet said. “There will be displays of a variety of artifacts from the Pownal Scenic and Historical Society, and local collections relating to the Pownal Community Club building and to North Pownal’s rich history.”

Bradstreet said that he and other volunteers finished the job by replacing a section of wall on the back side of the club.

“We ended up having to replace a sill, and moving and emptying an oil tank,” he said. “I am thrilled to get it done. I live across the street and I have that vested interest in having it look good. It’s also of historic value, and it was a shame to see it caving in.”

The building, which dates to 1826, served as a country store selling dry goods, groceries, flour and grains. It also has served as a post office and as a social center under several owners until 1941, when the store closed. A group of North Pownal residents formed the North Pownal Community Club in 1941 and purchased the building for its clubhouse. The group continued to serve the Pownal community over the succeeding years.

More recently, the building has been used as headquarters for the Pownal Food Coop and a variety of local groups and individuals.

Members of the North Pownal Community Club do not conduct monthly business meetings, per se.

“We have monthly potluck suppers, for any and all who wish to come, on the second Saturday of the month, at 5:30,” Bradstreet said.

The North Pownal Community Club, at 857 Lawrence Road, is ready for residents to tour at an open house Sunday.Staff photo by Larry Grard