OAKLAND — Those working to restore and preserve historic Memorial Hall on Church Street in Oakland expect to learn in about a month what needs to be done to bring the building back to its former glory.
Liz Reynolds, an engineer and preservationist with Barba + Wheelock Architects of Portland, toured the building last week, spending more than five hours and going over every inch of the building, which was built from 1870 to 1873 and dedicated to those who served in the American Civil War.
“She really was very, very meticulous with pictures and taking notes, and she’s going to be giving us a report in about a month,” Kelly Roderick, chair of the Memorial Hall Committee, which is working to restore and preserve the building, said.
The report, she said, is expected to include plans, a timeline and the estimated cost of repairs and renovations.
Roderick, Town Manager Kelly Pinney-Michaud, also a member of the committee, and Michelle Fontaine, a committee member and grant writer who is also secretary of the Oakland Area Historical Society, led a tour of the building Sunday.

The Oakland Veterans Memorial and Honor Roll in front of Memorial Hall reflects houses Sunday along Church Street in Oakland. Those working to restore and preserve Memorial Hall at 26 Church St. expect to learn in about a month what need be done to the building. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel
They pointed out work that has been done so far and what they know needs to be completed, aside from what the architectural firm determines.
Roderick, who is also a town councilor, has been working on the effort since 2022, vowing to preserve the building at 26 Church St., which she said was built with $1,500 raised by community members over three years. At the time, the town was known as West Waterville.
“It was considered the community gathering spot,” Roderick said. “Downstairs was all retail or rental space to generate income to maintain the building. Upstairs was used for town gatherings and meetings and entertainment.”
The 2 1/2-story building has housed a savings bank, library, food bank and post office over the years. It also hosted shows, town meetings, weddings and other activities — even serving as a temporary school when new schools were being built. For the past 40 years, it has been home to Studio One, a dance school operated by Scott Stevens.
The building, which has Italian-Gothic-style architecture and has been listed since 1977 on the National Register of Historic Places, is one of only a few Civil War memorial buildings in Maine.
The main floor has a stage and mezzanine with original hardwood floors, tall ceilings, stained glass windows and ornate woodwork framing the stage and balcony. The stage curtain was unrolled recently, revealing hand-painted scenes of local places.
Representatives of the Office of State Fire Marshal visited the building and designated life safety issues that need be addressed, and the committee has been working on installing emergency exit signs and lighting, adding panic bars to doors and removing fire hazards, including items piled up in a former kitchen.

Michelle Fontaine, center, overlooks a bust Sunday of poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow near the stairwell leading to the balcony of the theater at Memorial Hall at 26 Church St. in Oakland. Those working to restore and preserve the historic hall expect to learn in about a month what need be done to the building. Fontaine is a grant writer for the project. Oakland Town Manager Kelly Pinney-Michaud is at right. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel
Work on the building’s foundation has helped help level floors, and a major drainage issue, with water coming off Church Street and going under the building, must be addressed. A.J. Cain, the town’s sexton and supervisor of its Buildings & Grounds Department, and his crew have done much work to the hall and keep the building maintained.
“He’s a go-getter,” Fontaine said of Cain.
Two large windows have replaced and about 20 more need replacing. The exterior of the building is stone, quarried from nearby Messalonskee Stream, and the mortar needs to be repointed. The building must also be brought up to Americans with Disabilities Act standards, and a bathroom must be built on each of two floors.
About $30,000 from donations and town money has been spent on repairs, and the town puts about $10,000 a year into the building, Pinney-Michaud said. She said that without more life safety work to the building, it can only have 49 people inside at a time, but once more work is completed, it will have a capacity of 150 to 200.
“We’d like to bring it back to have events here and have it a community gathering place,” Pinney-Michaud said. “I can see having our town meetings and Christmas concerts and plays and comedy.”
Donations are critical to the success of the building restoration and preservation, committee members said. Those wishing to donate can mail checks to the Town of Oakland, 6 Cascade Mill Road, Oakland, ME 04963, with “Memorial Hall Fund” written on the memo line, or contribute through the Oakland Area Historical Society’s website — www.oaklandareahistoricalsociety.org.
While the total amount needed will not be known until the architect’s report is ready, those involved in the building’s restoration estimated the cost at a few million dollars. Small fundraisers have included a tea and tour event each spring, breakfasts with Santa Claus and silent auctions.

Kelly Roderick, the chair of the Memorial Hall Committee, walks through the building Sunday at 26 Church St. in Oakland. Those working to restore and preserve the historic structure expect to learn in about a month what need be done to the building. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel
Mailings to businesses have generated about $12,000, and two organizations have each donated $5,000. Another mailing is planned for the spring.
The historical society has received a $4,000 grant from the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The money has been used to develop postcards and flyers and to create a community cookbook with more than 175 recipes. The cookbook is being sold at the Oakland Town Office at 6 Cascade Mill Road and through the historical society’s website.
The Maine Community Foundation has given the town a $10,000 matching grant to do retaining wall work outside the building, and a bill that would give the effort $70,000 in federal discretionary spending has yet to be signed into law, according to committee members.
Pinney-Michaud, 51, said she grew up in Oakland and both of her daughters attended dance classes at Memorial Hall.
Roderick, 61, said she is also an Oakland native and was married 31 years ago to volunteer firefighter Gerald Roderick on the hall’s main floor, where emergency radios squawked during the ceremony and the smell of potluck food filled the air.
“I can’t tell you how much this place means to me,” she said.
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