ASHLAND - Tri-County Community Action Program and its partner, the Ashland Historical Society, recently unveiled its long-awaited fund raising campaign at Memorial Park to gather the required $776,000 plus required to purchase and renovate the Victorian-era elementary school building. Standing in front of a painted rendition of the school with its front tower doubling as a "thermometer" scaled to the goal amount, TCCAP's Executive Director Larry Kelly with Economic and Community Development Director Phyllis Powell praised the volunteers in both organizations who had helped advance the project to that point. “Unless people step forward to help preserve them, buildings are going to fall down,” she said, referencing the Ashland School Board’s plan five years ago to demolish the historic structure because it was unable to find a suitable Buyer and didn’t want to bear the cost of renovation itself.

  To prevent its demise, the historical society appealed to TCCAP, whose efforts to preserve historic buildings in towns across northern New Hampshire had returned numerous buildings to community usefulness. TCCAP immediately set out to find possible tenants, including the local Head Start and Big Brothers/Big Sisters programs, and together they appealed to voters at the school district's 2001 annual meeting to allow TCCAP to buy the building for a minimal amount and the cost of tearing down the old high school. The voters unanimously approved the sale in general terms but the school board in office at the time told them their vote was only advisory.

With the vote in hand, TCCAP applied for and won a major $300,000 grant from the new  Land and community Heritage Investment Program, but when it applied for a Community Development Block Grant that could have provided an additional $400,000 they were denied because they did not have control of the building and, according to then-school board chair Brian Chalmers, an agreement was not guaranteed despite the school district’s vote.

   The school board continued to throw up roadblocks, forcing the historical society to come back to the school district with what it believed would be a more precise directive to the school board, The board, however, continued to oppose the efforts by developing a subdivision plan the zoning board of adjustments couldn't approve and by writing a purchase and sales agreement that allowed the board to cancel the agreement for a myriad of reasons, but still required TCCAP to pay the $44,000 for the cost of demolishing the high school.

   Serious negotiations didn't begin until after a third vote of support at the 2003 school district meeting that led to a purchase and sales agreement inked just prior to the March 2004 annual meeting.

  The final agreement still required TCCAP to raise about 80 percent of the funds necessary to renovate the building prior to closing the sale, however. Despite the delays, the LCHIP administrators stood by their original grant, however, and grant administrator Rachel Rouillard filled in the first $300,000 of the goal thermometer with bright red paint at the May 3 ceremonies.

  After historical society official David Ruell reviewed the buildings sketchy history, Rouillard told the small gathering she was encouraged by the "spirit of the people to preserve their history" and that she was looking forward to writing checks for the actual renovation costs .

  In addition to Ashland Historical Society fundraising efforts ($30,000) such as the annual duck race down the Squam River, and grants from the Samuel Hunt Foundation ($10,000), local banks ($225,000) in process) and a historic tax credit ($160;000 in process) for sale to for-profit business donors, TCCAP continues to applv for grants and solicit major donations to raise the remaining $400,000 the project will require.

  Powell said she is confident those efforts will be successful in completing the purchase sometime next year.