Starling Hall, dedicated March 8, 1879, is the oldest building in Maine to have been built as a Grange Hall. 

The Fayette Board of Selectmen voted last month to put the question on the ballot, hoping to draw the highest possible voter turnout by having the referendum the same day as the presidential election. 

“It became the center of activity for the area hosting the Farmers’ League, the North Fayette Lyceum, the Sons of Temperance, and numerous balls, oyster suppers, and local musicals,” Maine Preservation said. 

Since 2014, when the town considered selling the property and the Friends of Starling Hall was founded, the town and the nonprofit group have worked together to preserve the building, with the town paying for regular maintenance and utilities while the group raised money for renovations.  

Friends of Starling Hall has raised more than $300,000 for renovations to the building. The group has paid to move the building 35 feet back from the road, installed heating and air conditioning and provided new electrical service to the building, among other renovations. 

Several years ago, the town approved a $100,000 bond for renovations to Starling Hall, with the understanding that it would be paid back entirely by the Friends of Starling Hall. Since then, the group has made all payments on the bond, totaling about $40,000. 

Significant improvements would still be required to make the building an accessible regular meeting place for the public, including improving ease of access to the second floor and installing Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant restrooms. 

Some residents have fought to keep the town from spending public money on the property. In 2022, residents narrowly rejected a $500,000 bond to match a federal grant. The same year, residents voted to limit town spending on Starling Hall to $5,000 a year, though the town did vote to use surplus funds to pay for an engineering study. 

The successful petition to put the future of Starling Hall on the November ballot was led by the town’s budget committee chair. 

“The successful public-private partnership has been a locally contentious issue,” Maine Preservation said. “A vocal group of residents has openly opposed the work, citing the slow progress of the project and decrying the use of public funds.” 

Now, voters will decide in November whether to sell the building outright, which Maine Preservation believes would put the future of Starling Hall in jeopardy. 

Maine Preservation has published the annual list since 1996 as a way to increase awareness. This year’s list included five other sites. They are the former Children’s Museum and Theatre of Maine in Portland, the Sangerville Town Hall, the Central Congregational Church in Eastport, Eagle Island State Historic Site off the coast of Harpswell and Kneisel Hall in Blue Hill. 

Among the sites on Maine Preservation’s 2023 list were the Colburn House State Historic Site in Pittston and the historic resources of Swan Island in the Kennebec River.