Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1880-08-13
TO WV HALL REPAIRS.
A SPECIAL TOWN MEETING CALLED TO CONSUME
THE SUBJECT.

A SPECIAL TOWN MEETING CALLED TO CONSIDER
THE SUBJECT.
! The selectmen have posted a warrant for
special town meeting, to be held on SATURDAY,
afternoon, Aug. q, ITO see il the town viii
reconsider alter or amend the vote passed n,
the last annual meeting in reference to max.
ing repairs upon the town hall" The sum
which the town voted at the last annual meet.
ing for repairs on the town hall was SlOm
and the action of the selectmen in calling thi,
special meeting arises from the fact that the
sum of $1,000 is found to be inadequate for
putting the hall and building in the condition
which they believe to be necessary for the
best interests of the town, and they wisely re-
fuse to follow any past precedent, or estab
lish new one, of spending money which the
town has not appropriated. One Thousand
dollars will make good beginning toward
the necessary town hall repairs, but it will
not do the work that ought to be done. 1t
would only go part way, and would leave the
work in such condition that it might as well
not have been attempted. We understand
that the selectmen are agreed as to the ne.
cessty of making thorough and complete i'm.
provements and repairs on the town building
but they will not undertake the work without
definite instructions from the voters.
The question before the town is simple
one. 1t is whether the town hall shall re.
main in its present unwholesome and unat-
tractive condition and yield almost 10 rev.
enue to the town, or whether a sum of say
$500 shall be expended on it to put it in
such condition that it shall be sought after
for entertainments and performances of all
kinds, and so realize handsome and profta
bic rental In its day the hall was very well
in its way, but its condition has been sadly
ne elected and as it now is, theatrical dra.
matte and other companies will not occupy it
except under a sort of compulsion. pri.
waite individual who should let piece of val.
liable property remain in the dilapidated con-
dition in which the town building now is
would be said to have deserved the loss or
failure which must inevitably come to him,
and what is good or bad policy for the indi-
vidual is the same for the town Greenfield,
Mass, is now spending some $1,000 or more
on its town building to save itself from loss,
1--~ 49, AA"f 20 Juoh III" DtbiilllIS IT.
pairs and improvements on its city hall which
will involve an expenditure of-sIo 900 or
$4,000. The question is a plain one of
either profit or loss which the voters of the
town ought to fully comprehend, and act up
on intelligently.
Aside from the repairs which are necessary
on the hall proper, two other points should
be taken into consideration The outdoor
steps, by which the building is at present en-
tered, are positively dangerous in winter
They should be improved in some way and
some sort of a covering built over them TO
keep of the snow and ice. Further than this
the post office quarters, as they now are, are
no fit place in which to compel a postmaster
and his clerks to spend II to II hours of the
"a. They are ill-lghted. announcement, i'm
possible to comfortably warm in cold weather,
and generally dingy and unwholesome. 1t is
for the interest of the town that the post-of-
fee should remain where it is, but to keep it
there permanently some improvements must
be made. In any scheme of general i'm
provement on the hall and building this part
must not be left out Of consideration