HARPSWELL

At Bailey Island Library Hall, change is afoot for the historic community center.

Sidewalk renovations and a new Americans with Disabilities Act compliant bathroom have improved accessibility. New landscaping is completed. A new furnace, duct system and hot water heater have been installed that allow the building to be heated in the winter. Additionally, structural repairs have been made that maintain that building’s historic character.

Many of those changes were made possible with federal funding through the Community Development Block Grant program, and on Monday those responsible for administering the funds, the Cumberland County commissioners, left their offices to visit Harpswell to see what improvements had been made.

“It’s wonderful to see what actually happens on the ground,” said Commissioner Thomas Coward.

“Some days you feel that the daily grind can be more of a grind than other times, and this past week has been one of those. Then I come here, and I’m reminded of why it’s all worth it,” said Director of Cumberland County Finance and Treasurer Alex Kimball.

The Community Development Block Grant program gives federal funding to projects designed to grow economic development or otherwise improve communities, with a focus on lower income residents. Though it’s a federal program, the grant itself is actually administered locally by the Cumberland County government through a unique arrangement. The county government receives applications and approves funding for the projects.

Normally that might be the end of the commissioners direct involvement with the projects funding, but this year they’re taking a summer tour to look at some of improvements made with the federal funding they doled out.

“We thought this year while we made the road tour around the different sites in the districts, we would visit projects that we put Community Development Block Grants through,” said Cumberland County Manager Jim Gailey. “At this point, we’re just seeing what we funded in the past and how it’s developing.”

Located on Harpswell Island Road, the 107-year-old Library Hall was built as a lending library and initially supported by the Mingo Club — a group of affluent girls on the island who had formed a literary society. It has since become a community center for Bailey Island. It’s design is inspired by George Washington’s Mt. Vernon residence. In 1936, noted psychoanalyst Carl Jung delivered a six-day seminar at Library Hall.

Library Hall was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in late 2008.

According to Library Hall board member Diane Gagne, about $140,000 had been invested in the building over the last 15 years, in addition to the $60,000 grant. It was only with the federal funding, however, that the board had the capital to really make the improvements needed.

“The ceilings and walls were coming down. It was really starting to be in bad shape. What your grant gave us was the step up we needed to get out of … playing catch up,” said Gagne to the commissioners. “The grant that you bestowed is invaluable.”

“Now we’re finally at a place we can breathe,” she added.

After holding their regular meeting at the Library Hall, the commissioners and staff traveled just up the road to the Orr’s-Bailey Island Fire Barn to see how $61,828 in federal funding had been used there. As previously reported in The Times Record, The Orr’s-Bailey Island Fire Department had used Community Development Block Grant funds to completely renovate the second floor of the barn. The new space includes an exercise room, two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen and living space. The renovations are seen as a recruitment effort to attract new faces with a more inviting and livable space.

According to Town Administrator Kristi Eiane, projects in the town of Harpswell had received $340,000 cumulatively since joining the program in 2007, which have been used for projects such as a backpack program at Harpswell Community School and the creation of an economic development program.

“Our decision to participate (in the Cumberland County program) has been a really good decision. We have benefited significantly,” said Eiane.