Reading and Benson receive funds for General Store projects
The Preservation Trust of Vermont, Vermont Council on Rural Development, and the Vermont Community Foundation announced the first cohort of communities selected for the Village Trust Initiative, Sept. 12.
The Village Trust Initiative is a new partnership of the three organizations that will support 20 Vermont communities over the next several years to form a Community Trust and undertake a transformational revitalization project in their historic village.
The Village Trust Initiative is made possible with a $10 million Congressionally directed spending award from Senator Leahy’s office in 2023 and will provide selected communities across the state with substantial planning and implementation funding. Each community will receive technical assistance from all three partner organizations, funding to support the predevelopment of the project, and significant capital investment to launch the project forward.
By helping communities define a vision for their future and complete revitalization projects, the Village Trust Initiative will build community capacity, preserve a sense of place, and ensure Vermont villages are dynamic places for future generations. In the coming years, the program will expand to support additional villages in all 14 counties in Vermont.
The first awards went to seven communities, representing seven counties:
Benson, Rutland County, General Store project
Reading, Windsor County, General Store project
Braintree, Orange County, Snowsville Hotel housing and community space project
West Fairlee, Orange County, Bean Hall Community Center project
Wolcott, Lamoille County, Schoolhouse rehabilitation project
Lunenburg, Essex County, Gilman Middle School reuse project
Greensboro Bend, Orleans County, Church and parsonage adaptive reuse project
“The Reading Community Trust is excited to be a member of the 2024 Village Trust Initiative cohort and will receive an award of $300,000 to support pre-development expenses and restoration construction on a historic building in the village of Felchville,” stated the Reading Community Trust after receiving the award.
Established in June 2024, the Reading Community Trust (RCT) is incorporated and in the process of obtaining 501c3 status. The RCT is an offshoot of a group called “The Future is Reading” that began meeting regularly in January 2024 to hear what was on the minds of Reading residents and to determine how best to revitalize the local economy. It became clear to the group that many residents desired a community gathering space and that establishing a community trust might be the first step in that direction. The RCT is actively soliciting feedback from the community about viable uses for a restored historic building in the village. The pre-development funding from VTI will allow the group to hire professionals to conduct conditions, engineering and feasibility assessments and to research permitting on potential structures. The group will conduct a capital campaign to raise the necessary funding for the purchase of a historic building.
“VCRD is extremely proud of the work of this initiative,” said VCRD Executive Director Denise Smith. “We were impressed with the incredible projects submitted by the communities and the passion of the people in those communities. The selection process was rigorous and difficult, and the work the staff and the Advisory Committee did to select the first cohort of projects was incredible. We are all so excited to assist these communities in bringing vitality back to buildings and village centers that have raised generations of Vermonters”.
PTV and VCRD visited each of the 14 finalist communities this summer, taking time to meet local project leaders, see potential project sites and learn more about the life and community in each village. Project leaders spoke of the potential that the VTI program brings to their community.
“The VTI project has the potential to play an anchor role in knitting together a number of current developments contributing to the revitalization of the village,” said Oran Young Wolcott. “With a little effort, these developments can come together to initiate a new chapter in the life of the village. The repurposed school can become the hub around which these developments coalesce.”
There will be two future rounds of the Village Trust Initiative program within the next four years.
To participate in this program a community must:
Be a town of fewer than 2,500 residents based on the 2020 Decennial Census.
Have an existing community trust organization or the desire to build one.
Be interested in a revitalization project utilizing a historic resource or site in an established village environment. Greenspace and trails are not eligible.
Have or expect to have site control.
Have or expect to have endorsement by the Selectboard to participate in the program (a motion in Selectboard meeting minutes or a letter indicating support).
Communities that will be most successful in this program may also have:
An identified community need and demonstrated community support for the project.
An identified building or site in the Village that could meet the identified need.
For more information, visit: Vtrural.org/village-trust.
