POWNAL – With the help of a few good men and women, Alan Bradstreet is hoping to pump new life into the North Pownal Community Club on Lawrence Road, a 187-year-old building that once served as the social hub of the community.

“We’re not on the way to anywhere, so things have stayed relatively the same,” said Bradstreet, a retiree who has lived in Pownal since 1976. “There are a lot of new families in town who are interested in local activities that the building could easily accommodate.”

According to Bradstreet, the North Pownal Community Club was established in 1941 as a social center and gathering place for local residents and with a purpose of maintaining the building for public use. As with many similar organizations, interest and membership diminished, with many more easily accessible meeting places and activities available. In fact, the North Pownal Methodist Church is literally right next door and recently added a kitchen and other improvements.

Despite a surplus in community meeting spaces, Bradstreet is working on a plan to re-energize the organization with some building maintenance and accompanying fundraising to refresh and repair the structure, along with plans to offer programs that could bring back an interest in the historic building and its use. The building hosts monthly potluck suppers (on the second Saturday of each month, public invited), serves as a home for the Pownal Food Coop, and has been used for a variety of local meetings and private social gatherings.

Bradstreet, who lives across the street from the building, served as president of the club for 17 years. This past year, he was re-elected to the post.

“When I first started coming to the community club back in 1976, there wasn’t any member who was under the age of 65,” said Bradstreet. “I was immediately elected president. It was all old folks who were tired and worn out.”

The building dates back to 1826, and spent much of its life as a general store serving a small farming community in North Pownal. The community changed little during the next 150 years, and even today retains the flavor of its past, surrounded by a general store, a church, a one-room schoolhouse, and buildings that once served as a blacksmith shop and a harness shop, all close to a cluster of homes on a hilltop in rural Maine.

Bradstreet, who is also the host of “Incredible Maine,” a weekly television program on the Maine Public Broadcasting Network, said the goal isn’t to renovate or restore the building.

“It has no architectural significance, but is important historically,” he said.

The building is owned by the North Pownal Community Trust and receives roughly $100 a year from the town. A five-member board of directors is responsible for the general upkeep of the building. The organization’s expenses are minimal – liability insurance and electricity, said Bradstreet. The monthly potluck dinners are the chief fundraising effort and donations do trickle in occasionally.

“We have very modest needs,” he said. “I’ve chosen repairs that I think are necessary and fit in the budget.”

One upgrade on Bradstreet’s wish list is a composting toilet, as the building is served by an attached outhouse, a quaint piece of history but one that may not be an attractive option in 2013. For the past month, Bradstreet has been busy fixing the brick walkway, landscaping and preparing the building for larger improvements. As of now, the community club is in the process of contracting out significant repairs on the exterior of the building and has scheduled volunteer work days on Oct. 6, 19, and 20, when scraping and painting, interior cleaning, and gardening and grounds work is planned.

Volunteers have already rebuilt the brick walkway, and put the gardens to bed for the winter along the front. Others have committed to some interior cleaning, to re-glazing and repainting the entryway windows and door, repainting the sign, and to further improvements on the front lawn. An early volunteer-outreach campaign has netted 18 people, an encouraging sign, said Bradstreet, which shows an interest in keeping the building functional now and in the future.

“It’s part of the history of North Pownal,” said Sherri Deitrich, the secretary of the North Pownal Community Club Trust. “Alan is on the right track to keep it going as a place we can all enjoy.”

So what does the North Pownal Community Club have to offer? Bradstreet thinks its history and a continuation of traditions. Recently, one Pownal resident said she would like to host a craft night at the club, and others have come forward with fresh ideas on an old but still relevant concept of community gatherings.

“It’s been used by a number of organizations over the years, including the Boy Scouts,” said Bradstreet. “One of our board members had their wedding reception here 50 years ago. It’s got a history and a story to tell. It’s free to use so the price is certainly right.”

Alan Bradstreet is president of the North Pownal Community Club, whose trustees are embarking on a new fundraising and volunteer effort to help modernize the 187-year-old building. Bradstreet, who lives across from the building on Lawrence Road, is hoping to pump new life into both the structure and North Pownal Community Club. “There are a lot of new families in town who are interested in local activities,” said Bradstreet.