People who don’t live in or around Hardwick can be forgiven for assuming that the Civic Standard is either a newspaper or a five-speed Honda coupe. But in the past few years, locals have come to know the Civic as a makerspace, of sorts, for building community. Now, the nonprofit is moving into larger digs in downtown Hardwick, which will greatly expand its ability to host public get-togethers.
Last month, the Civic Standard purchased the three-story building at 39 South Main Street, directly across the street from its current headquarters. The latter, a ramshackle building that’s the oldest in downtown, housed the Hardwick Gazette for more than 130 years until the newspaper ceased its print edition in 2020. The Gazette’s owners allowed the Civic to squat there if it paid the bills, then later gifted the building to the nonprofit.
Since its founding in 2022, the Civic has served as a catalyst for community gatherings, both in its own space and at other places around town. It organizes dances, karaoke nights, art classes, and Halloween costume and prom dress swaps. On the first day of school it hands out cupcakes to local children, and on the last day, popsicles.
“It’s really important to have this presence” in downtown, said executive director Rose Friedman of East Hardwick, who cofounded the Civic with Tara Reese of Walden and Erica Heilman of East Calais. “It was clear to us that we needed to find another place.”
The Civic’s new home has roughly twice the square footage of the old one. Its first floor, which in the past housed a supermarket, a food co-op and a flower shop, will be used for live music and the Civic’s Wednesday night community suppers.
“We can all sit at tables together, instead of with plates on our laps on the floor,” Friedman said.
The building’s second floor, which has a commercial kitchen, will be used as a small café. The third floor will serve as rehearsal space and costume and prop storage for the Civic’s community theater productions.
Friedman is perhaps most excited about expanding the Civic’s ability to serve local kids. The organization has long hosted a group of Dungeons & Dragons players, she said, and teens often drop in after school for help with their homework, college and career planning, “or just to unload about life.” The second-floor café could be run by teens, she said.
Last month, the organization launched its first-ever capital campaign to raise $400,000 to buy the building and make improvements. By the second week of October, it had already raised $260,000. The new building is in fairly good shape, Friedman noted, and requires only cosmetic updates as well as some new kitchen equipment.
The same cannot be said for the old Gazette building. Built in 1850, the two-story clapboard house needs a new foundation, roof and exterior paint job. Any new occupant would need to invest in major improvements, which would be challenging given that the building is located in a historic district and in the designated floodway of the Lamoille River.
The Civic has put out a request for proposals to see if anyone is interested in saving the building. If no one steps forward, Friedman said, the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s buyout program will pay to take it down.
The original print version of this article was headlined “Hardwick’s Civic Standard Buys New Building to Expand Its Community Offerings”
This article appears in The Tech Issue.
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