REDDING — As the Redding Grange faces a potential sale, one local woman says she’s “compelled” to try and save it from being put on the market.
Elizabeth Jensen vividly recalls driving by the grange for years and admiring the old structure.
“I can't tell you how many times I have pulled over and looked in the windows at the space, and imagined what it could become for our community,” she said.
“I felt strongly bonded with the building for some reason, without really knowing its intended use,” she added, noting that when she heard it could be sold, she worried her “little beloved building would not make it out of a sale alive.”
The Redding Grange is a nationally recognized historic building about 150-years-old that, similar to others in the state, was created as an agricultural hub but took on more of a community center role as it aged.
George Russell, the state grange president, said the previous Redding cohort overseeing its management forfeited the charter this past winter because they were “running out of money” for its upkeep.
When a grange’s charter is surrendered by its local organizers, it falls into the state’s arms, according to national bylaws. The Connecticut State Grange can try to reorganize it, but a statute requires a group of at least 13 people to file the reorganization.
Now that the grange is essentially up for grabs, Jensen is trying to keep it off the market. She has met with local stakeholders to gauge what the grange can become.
She plans on letting the state grange know whether her attempt to save the Redding chapter has been successful by the middle of next month.
If she is unsuccessful, she wants the state to have enough time to sell it while people are still looking to buy it. Her deadline is set and the pressure is on.
“I’m going to do my best to get this kite back up in the air,” she said.
Her biggest challenge is being able to round up enough people to rally behind the effort and take a shot at reinstating the charter with her. Part of the “heavy lift” entails finding people who will contribute to the restoration needed for the grange to be back in a serviceable order for the community, Jensen said.
The “old girl,” as she described the building, will need some painting, electric work and more. Jensen’s already begun stringing together a Redding-centric vision and purpose for the grange that will help it better serve the community and bring it back to life.
“It’s a part of our living history and I think in Redding we have so much town identity associated with preserved land and sort of rural ways,” she said.
“I am also planning to refresh the vision of the Redding Grange and help set it up for long-term success in my home community.”
Jensen’s idea for the structure would transform it into a three-tiered community center based on the National Grange’s motto, “in essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity."
The grange would function as a meeting space and place for people to find agricultural resources and activities, as well as emergency services when needed.
Her hope is to turn the inside into a blank canvas that can be versatile enough for different events and meetings and create an outdoor area perfect for forest restoration activities, beekeeping and “all of the essentials needed for healthy land.”
She said the grange could potentially store generators that could be loaned to residents when the town loses power.
Ideally, her goal is to make the grange a “backbone of support” for the community.
Jensen met with First Selectwoman Julia Pemberton Tuesday to discuss the grange’s future. Pemberton learned about the grange’s possible sale through a social media post and thought it was “wonderful” that residents are interested in saving it.
“My hope is that we can restore a base membership group that can keep the Grange alive in Redding and off the market,” Pemberton said.
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