WOOLWICH

The Selectboard has indicated support for renovations at the historic Nequasset Meetinghouse, and wants to move soon on replacing the front door.

Meeting Monday night with the Nequasset Church Committee, the Selectboard agreed with the committee that the door, the walkway and insulation of the attic are all worthy projects. Board Chairman David King said there is money in the town’s improvement fund that might be used for the renovations, and that work on the door could begin soon.

Deb Locke and Sylvia Carlton represented the committee Monday night.

“Some major cleaning out needs to be done in the attic first,” Locke cautioned. “We need a volunteer crew to clean out the attic and decide what’s worth keeping.”

Locke presented the Selectboard with a document outlining the committee’s wish list. She also asked the board for ideas on future use of the building.

“We feel this building should be preserved just to have it,” she said.

“I agree,” King replied.

Locke said that a new door and walkway are “critical” needs. King responded that a wooden walkway would not hold up, and that a brick walkway might look historically correct but wouldn’t be in tune with today’s needs.

“It’s got to be something that isn’t going to trip up anybody going in with a cane,” King said. “It has to be handicapped accessible.”

Selectman Lloyd Coombs asked if the building would be left unheated for most of the winter. King said it should be heated when in use, allowing that it would take about 36 hours to heat the building in its uninsulated state.

The conversation then turned to potential uses, especially once an addition is made to the Town Office. During the summer months, the Selectboard is conducting its meetings at the Meetinghouse.

King suggested weddings, or perhaps Girls Scout meetings. Town administrator Lynette Eastman added that funerals have been held there as well.

“Once nice thing about that building,” King said, “is that it sits 200 people all the time.”

In its report to the board, the committee suggested that the church pews could be removed to make space for a dance hall.