The museum is seeking town funds to pay about 17 percent of the $301,600 cost of dismantling, preserving and reassembling an historic Williamstown barn on the institution s grounds. We re hopeful we ll get at least a portion of the funding for this project, said Sarah Currie, a member of the commission who also serves as executive director for the museum. It s important, we think to save this barn because this is one of an ever dwindling collection of barns like this. They often fall into disrepair and are demolished, and their stories can t be told. It s significant to the town because agriculture was so significant to the town.
Four agencies submitted requests by Friday s deadline for grants ranging from $50,000 to $160,000. Together, the aggregate is more than 8 percent over the total funds the committee is expecting to be available for fiscal year 2022. The largest request is from the town s Affordable Housing Trust, which settled on a sum of $160,000 in new Community Preservation Act funding during an open meeting last month. The committee also had an inclination in the fall that the Williamstown Rural Lands Foundation would be seeking town funds to support the acquisition of an Agricultural Preservation Restriction at Fairfields Farm; that request came in at $56,000. The Williamstown Historical Museum seeks $50,000 for the restoration, transport and reassembly of an historic barn to the museum s New Ashford Road (Route 7) home. Northern Berkshire Habitat for Humanity wants $80,000 to support the construction of a second single-family home on a lot at the corner of Cole Avenue an