SALEM — The city is holding a forum to provide updates to community members about its ongoing plan to revitalize the Old Town Hall.
The forum will take place via Zoom on March 29 at 6 p.m.
Julie Barry, the city’s senior planner for arts and culture and manager of the project, will be hosting the event.
Her goals for the project include increasing the building’s capacity size, installing a fire-suppression system and installing an HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) system for better ventilation.
“We don’t have the costs for this project quite yet,” Barry said. “The cost that we would have at the beginning of the project would be different now due to supply-chain issues.”
Additionally, Barry said she wants the building to be ADA (Americans with Disability Act) compliant.
“We would want to preserve the historical structure of the building while also providing more accessibility,” she said. “This would mean allowing for better access at the front entrance and inside the building.”
Barry said the funding would come from a grant provided by the Massachusetts Historical Commission.
The Old Town Hall was first built in 1816 and was used as a market and meeting house by the citizens of Salem.
The second floor of the building housed government offices, including for the treasurer and town clerk, while the first floor was set up for market stalls.
The building has been used by different groups and organizations over the years, according to Barry.
It was an arts-and-culture hub when it was used by Gordon College from 2008-14 and served as a performance space for the nonprofit, History Alive.
In 2019, the revitalization project officially began and the city hired Mills Whitaker Architects to help with the construction, which is expected to begin later this year.
The city also partnered with the nonprofit organization, CultureHouse, to create a pop-up arts and culture space at the building.
Barry said the space will launch on April 2 and run until June 2.
“They would create games, little art events and poetry classes in the building,” Barry said. “We are hoping to turn the building into a center for arts and culture.”
Barry said there will also be dance classes offered on the fourth Saturday of each month.
Barry said the exact completion date for the plan is not definitive, but estimated it could be finished by 2023.
“What we are trying to do next is to continue engagement with the community,” she said. “We want to gather any input of what they want for this space.”
