Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Community Facilities topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Volunteers highlight busy season at Barre City Auditorium; city outlines grant‑funded upgrades
Summary
Organizers credited strong local support for the winter solstice basketball event and a busy season of athletics; city staff said two grants — a congressional directed spending award and a Municipal Energy Resilience Program award that covers roughly half the Auditorium work — will fund HVAC, electrical and accessibility upgrades.
Organizers and city staff told the Barre City Council on Jan. 7 that the Barre City Auditorium is hosting a growing slate of events and that planned federal and state grants will fund building upgrades.
Jim McWilliam, marketing director for the city-owned facility, described the recent winter solstice basketball tournament and other high-attendance events. "They wanna see the lights on in this building," McWilliam said, describing sponsor and community support for programming. He said the auditorium drew near-capacity crowds for recent high‑school games and that the facility will host state semifinal and final high school wrestling championships in late February and early March.
Manager Nicholas Mackenzie briefed the council on funding and next steps for capital upgrades to better support the auditorium as a regional emergency shelter and event venue. He said the city holds a congressionally directed spending grant from Senator Sanders and has also been awarded a Municipal Energy Resilience Program (MERP) grant that is roughly $500,000 in total; the MERP award will allocate approximately half its funds to the auditorium and requires no local match. Mackenzie said the combined grants align on HVAC, electrical and ADA work and that staff are contracting for engineering and design this winter. "It requires absolutely no match," he said of the MERP award.
Why this matters: the auditorium serves as a cultural and economic anchor — drawing visitors who patronize downtown businesses — and also functions as a designated regional shelter during extreme weather and floods. Upgrades to the building envelope, HVAC and lighting are intended to improve the facility's safety, comfort and energy performance.
Councilors and facility staff also discussed pressing maintenance items. A councilor asked about deteriorated concrete and exposed rebar on a rear stairwell used for Sunday-night programs; Mackenzie and staff said they would follow up with the facilities manager to prioritize repairs.
Ending: Staff said they expect to finalize architect/engineering contracts this winter and use the two grants to complete the project scope originally proposed to the federal program; event organizers said the auditorium's sponsorship and programming momentum should help sustain operations while upgrades proceed.
