The former Jaffrey Town Office on Goodnow Street has been given a fresh coat of paint, had its 30-year-old carpets ripped out, and is ready to complete its makeover into the new home of the Jaffrey Historical Society.

During a tour of the mostly finished renovated space last week, Historical Society President Peter Lambert laid out the plans for the building — a reception area and display for “Jaffrey-made” items in the former property records room, a kitchenette in the copy room, and a dedicated display room for the Historical Society’s collection of wooden bird carvings by Robert and Virginia Warfield.

The town’s former meeting room will now hold display cases and seating in the form of benches that once were housed in the former Masonic Hall, and before that, the East Baptist Church. As the largest open space on the first floor, it will act as a place to host school classrooms and events, as well as the sprawling Christmas Village display the Historical Society puts up every year.

The Historical Society hopes to put in new carpeting this week and then start the process of moving in.

“There were a few delays getting started, but since we’ve started, we’ve been going full bore,” said Lambert, who has seen renovations move these past three weeks very quickly.

The Historical Society is currently housed in the basement of the Jaffrey Civic Center and has been since the Civic Center opened 60 years ago. Lambert said the former Jaffrey town offices — left empty after the town purchased the former TD Bank next door to serve as its new offices — have several advantages.

Namely, more space, Lambert said. But there were also flooding issues in the basement of the Civic Center, and it was reachable only via a staircase, with no accessibility.

“That might have been considered acceptable in 1966, but it’s not acceptable now,” Lambert said. “We need to be accessible to everyone, and we can do that here.”

The bigger space and meeting room also open up a world of opportunity for collaboration with school groups, something that would have been difficult in the current space, Lambert said. To that end, the Historical Society has recently formed an education committee to help facilitate things like school tours.

One of the advantages of the new location, Lambert said, is that it’s more visible than the current location in the basement of the Civic Center and will share parking spaces with what is now the new Town Hall.

“There are a lot of people who have lived in Jaffrey a long time, who are even Jaffrey natives, that didn’t know where we were, or that we were open to the public, or when,” Lambert said. “Or if they did, they never came to see us. Here, we’re at the heart of everything. This is a location everyone in town has come into at one point or another.”

Lambert said he hopes the increased visibility will encourage people to come in and walk around and see the many artifacts the town has collected.

“We want to show off what we have, what Jaffrey is and used to be. We’re really hoping this is an educational space, and not just Jaffrey’s attic, where old stuff goes to collect dust,” Lambert said. “Come in. You’re guaranteed to learn something, even if you’ve lived in Jaffrey your whole life.”

The Historical Society has also launched capital campaigns to help pay for the renovations and to outfit the new space, including new display cases. The total goal of both campaigns is $75,000, and contributors can earn rewards based on their level of support, including a Jaffrey Historical Society calendar, Little Red Schoolhouse notecards, the donor’s name on a dedication plaque at the Historical Society, and, for the highest-level donors giving above $5,000, naming rights to a display case or room.

Contributing businesses can receive a year’s worth of advertising in the Historical Society’s quarterly newsletter and website, sponsorship of one of the Historical Society’s events in 2027 or 2028, the donor’s name on a dedication plaque at the Historical Society, or naming rights to a display case or room.

Contributions can be sent to the Jaffrey Historical Society at 10 Goodnow St. in Jaffrey. For more information, call 603-598-0120 or visit jaffreyhistory.org. Donations can also be made online at givebutter.com/new-jhs-capital-campaign-hghs3g.