The inside of the now-shuttered Francestown Village Store has been gutted down to its post and beams.
Built in 1814, the building was known as the second oldest continually running general store in the country. The Long Store, as it was called, closed last July and a bank repossessed it during an auction later that month.
The story of the village store going under in the sleepy town gained widespread attention after an article was published by a national news outlet. The article was read by a man in Nevada named William Smith who donated enough money to the Francestown Improvement & Historical Society to purchase the building.
Sarah Pyle, a member of the FIHS and lives in Francestown, said the store went out of businesses right around the same time that the newly renovated Town Hall opened its doors. She said the timing was such that at least the community still had a gathering center. Even still, she said, there has been a disconnect without the store.
“You get used to being able to run down and get a quarter gallon of milk and run into a friend. You can’t do that anymore,” Pyle said. “So there is a disconnect.”
Charlie Pyle, who is also a member of the FIHS, said he now runs into people at the post office. But, he too, said there has been a gap.
“You’d run into people you didn’t generally see (at the store). You’d just say, ‘hi’ and chat about something,” Charlie said.
After the FIHS took possession of the building, it held a community conversation to gather ideas about how it should proceed. Pyle said it was clear early on in the process that the building needed a major overhaul.
“We looked at the space and realized if we were going to make it work into a modern day enterprise it needed some major fixing up,” Pyle said during a recent interview.
Pyle said the group received a small start-up donation, which was enough to cover the cost of gutting the space. She said the process allowed the group to see what it was working with.
During the process, crews revealed wooden beams that had been covered by the ceiling.
“We discovered these wonderful beams,” Pyle said. “I mean look at these things.”
The floor that Pyle said everyone thought was so great, is actually in tough shape.
“It’s patched in pieces and it’s all rotted under where the deli used to be,” Pyle said. “So we have to do new flooring.”
She said the group plans to bring back certain features of the buildings during the renovation process, like moving the sales counter back to its original location, constructing a kitchen, restoring a second door and windows that have been covered up over the years. Pyle said that the building will be Americans with Disabilities Act, or ADA, compliant when all is said and done.
Although the FIHS doesn’t have hard numbers from a contractor yet, based on estimates from a local architect, building renovations will cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $140,000.
Pyle said the group has banked about $45,000. It has also applied for one grant and is in the process of writing another, and if those come through that could tack on another $40,000.
She said FIHS has also launched many local fundraising campaigns as well, including an upcoming Black Fly Ball on May 19 at 7 p.m. in the Town Hall, and an event called Race For Our Store 5K on Saturday, June 23 from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.
Pyle said they are trying to host a variety of fundraisers that range in price from rather expensive dinners to donation-based events.
Pyle said once the building has been completed, the group hopes to rent it out to a business owner. She believes that because the building was gifted to the organization, they will be able to keep rent costs low.
Charlie said the exact details still have yet to be hammered out but the overall idea is that once the store is up-and-running, the society would retain ownership of the building and a separate entity would collect rent and fix any issues with the structure.
“FIHS is not in the property management business, although we have been lately, but the idea is that we’ll have somebody that takes on that job of property management,” Pyle said.
This summer, Pyle said, the FIHS will put out possible requests for proposals from businesses interested in renting out space within the store. Pyle said the group hopes to find a business owner interested in renting the space this summer so that it can work with them on construction plans so that it meets the renter’s needs.
Charlie said the group has completed phase one of the project, which included cleaning out the store. He said it will launch phase two, which includes revamping electrical, plumbing, and the store’s heating and cooling processes, once it has raised enough money.
“A lot of the problem that has been in all of the village stores, everybody that we’ve looked at, it’s not a huge profit center, so you need to keep your costs low in order to have it be a successful business,” Pyle said.
In the past, owners have been saddled with debt, which has been hard to catch up on. Pyle said the shift in the way the store is run will allow a business, or businesses, to succeed.
She said residents want their store back too, which should help whoever takes the store over next.
“The community really wants to see this to succeed,” Pyle said.
Abby Kessler can be reached at 924-7172, ext. 234 or akessler@ledgertranscript.com.