GRAY – Stimson Hall and the section of downtown Gray surrounding the historic building are poised for a major overhaul under a proposal sponsored by the Liberty Family Foundation.

The foundation, which sponsors recreation programs in town and is bankrolled by real estate mogul and Gray native Michael Liberty, has put forward a preliminary proposal to fund renovations to Stimson Hall, and to create an interconnecting parking area, a village park and world-class Little League facility in the area behind the building.

The first step in the proposal is a letter of agreement between the foundation and the public and private landowners in the area. The Gray Town Council is set to sign the letter at its meeting Tuesday, March 6. While the process has been ongoing since 2006, when the town first began work on a village redevelopment plan, the letter of agreement represents the first substantive step to renovate the area.

“What this letter of agreement does is set out a set of mutually agreed upon goals for the project as well as their willingness to put their properties into play to come up with a design that will actually lay out the renovation of Stimson, the creation of a world-class Little League facility, a village park and a common parking lot that will serve all those surrounding uses,” said George Thebarge, Gray’s economic development consultant.

The area in Gray Center, known as the Monument Square Block and totaling 6-8 acres, has been on the town’s economic development radar since 2006, but efforts at revitalization have stalled due to the overwhelming costs associated with renovating Stimson Hall, a local landmark.

It is estimated that it would cost $400,000-$450,000 just to complete basic repairs to the decaying Greek Revival-style building, and more to transform it into a commercially viable space. The town is hesitant to spend more tax dollars when $2.4 million was recently used to restore and repurpose another historic building, the Pennell Institute, into Gray’s new town hall.

Also hampering the area’s redevelopment has been the lack of parking and wastewater disposal. With many small contiguous properties – including the old post office and old town hall – a large-scale commercial project such as an office building is seen as a long shot to take shape.

However, with Liberty’s willingness to sponsor a renewal project, town leaders are restarting efforts to negotiate with surrounding business and residential owners regarding the future use of the area, which is bordered by Russell Elementary School, Stimson Hall, Cathy Manchester’s Keller Williams real estate office on Main Street and the School Administrative District 15 superintendent’s office on Shaker Road.

Rick Liberty, a cousin of Michael Liberty who has worked on the proposal with the town on behalf of the foundation, is “very excited” about the possibilities.

Liberty sees Stimson renovated into a useful town building, possibly as a multi-use recital hall or black box theater featuring an unadorned performance space. He sees a village park with lawn and trees. He also envisions championship Little League games in a state-of-the-art facility with stands, concessions and lights for night games.

“There have been requests for proposals and years have gone by and no one has stepped up with anything that would stick,” Liberty said. “And it has largely been due to complications that arise with septic and parking. And when you don’t have those to the degree that will support a commercial endeavor, it’s a game stopper.

“So we came to the table with some thoughts about how we could enrich the community – especially the young people of the community – and the idea of sports complexes and athletic fields that we’ve been involved with for so long came to mind in terms of how we might be able to tie it all together, save Stimson Hall, work with the stakeholders and abutters and come up with a plan that the town would bless.”

The upfront renovations would be covered by the foundation. While costs won’t be known until specific designs are drawn, Rick Liberty admits, “it won’t be cheap.” But he adds that Michael Liberty is willing and financially able to help fund the improvements.

However, the project can only go forward if abutters agree. The Town Council has been supportive of the idea, and councilors will vote Tuesday on the letter of agreement to move forward with the further design and discussions. The agreement is non-binding to all parties, Thebarge said.

“All they’re on board to do is to do a good-faith effort to see if we can come up with a plan that works for all of them,” he said, referring to the abutters.

If at any time any of the parties want out, they can end the agreement, Thebarge said.

“All parties acknowledge that there must be agreement on all of the key issues relating to the overall proposed development goals before any item of the proposal becomes effective,” Thebarge said, quoting from the preamble of the letter.

There are several public and private property owners in the area under consideration. Private parties include Keith Harriman, owner of the small shopping center where Subway and the hardware store are located; Manchester, owner of a real estate office on Main Street; and Peter Marion, who owns 10 Shaker Road, which is used as a barber shop and apartments. The former C.N. Brown gas station near the monument is not involved in the discussions.

While the town owns Stimson Hall, the old post office and old town hall, the school district owns the superintendent’s office and Russell Elementary School, which would also be part of project’s scope.

When asked whether the foundation would pay for all improvements on each of the properties considered in the proposal, Thebarge said there is a lot of work to do, and a lot of details to figure out.

“There’s no idea on costs,” he said. “Really, before you can come up with a cost estimate, you have to come up with a design, so that will be the first step in the process, to do a design process of what will be involved with a Little League field upgrade, landscaping, the parking lot, improvements to shopping center, improvements to 10 Shaker Road, and Cathy Manchester’s office. Those private properties would most likely be the responsibility of the property owners and the public improvements would be the responsibility of the Liberty Family Foundation.”

Rick Liberty said his cousin feels a sense of hometown pride and wants to benefit Gray residents.

“The motivator is the servant-leadership that Mike is a big believer in and the give-back that he wants to do with the community,” Liberty said. “That and the nostalgia with his experience as a little boy there where he was a very good ballplayer coming up through Little League. If I remember right, he went four years running as the home run champ. And he probably hit the longest ball ever at that field. It went over the A&P store where Subway is now. It was a tremendous poke and he has tremendous memories of that.”

The foundation wants the community’s involvement and support in the renovations of Stimson and the area, Liberty added, both now and in the future. He expects maintenance of the renovated areas would be a joint responsibility of those benefiting from the upgrades: the town, the school district and the private owners whose property would gain in value with the redevelopment.

“Some will say this will be a burden down the road for the town, concerning maintenance and upkeep, but we’ll do the lifting, we’ll help this be pulled off, and I’m sure there would be a plan that would be fair for all people,” Liberty said. “We’re not buying it to develop it. This is a charity thing. We’re in here to philanthropically step up to the plate and save a situation.

“We want to see where all the stakeholders are and how they are lining up and to what degree they are willing to participate and co-venture,” he continued. “We’re prepared to do the lifting, but we want to see the engagement of the stakeholders and their leadership and participation in the design process. We want to see the support and appetite, the tiger in the eye, the fire in the belly, so to speak, from the parties.”

The area known as the Monument Square Block may soon be redeveloped. A proposal by the Gray-based Liberty Family Foundation envisions a world-class Little League stadium, a village park, interconnected parking areas and renovated Stimson Hall. (Courtesy image)