CDFA Grant awarded to MainStreet Warner, Inc.
(Warner, NH) Thanks to funding from The New Hampshire Community Development Finance Authority (CDFA), DayStar Builders have begun renovating the MainStreet Warner Lodge, formerly known as the Harris Masonic Lodge, in the center of town. MainStreet Warner’s goal is to preserve this historic building so that it once again can serve as a community center with a refurbished meeting room, an updated kitchen, and an indoor performance venue. Plans for the remodeled facility include programs to promote food security and nutrition, gathering spaces for community-based organizations and Warner residents, and a variety of artistic and educational opportunities for Simonds Elementary School students.
CDFA Executive Director Katy Easterly Martey explains the objectives guiding CDFA funding: “The investment of Community Center Investment Program resources will make important impacts within New Hampshire communities by creating meaningful places for local residents to come together and access essential services.” MainStreet Warner worked hard to make a compelling grant application, knowing that the competition for funding would be fierce. As Martey acknowledges, “There was a significant demand for these resources. Nonprofits and municipalities awarded funds demonstrated their projects have a strong community benefit and improve or create spaces that are incredibly important for the health and vibrancy of New Hampshire’s communities.”
Tom Heise, a MSW Board member, maintains that “the CDFA funds awarded to MainStreet Warner will be transformative. The Lodge project, its community kitchen, and meeting room will serve hundreds of people and will do much to advance the interests of food security in the greater Warner area. Warner, however large in spirit and blessed with community-minded volunteers, is nevertheless a small town with limited financial resources. And the renovation we have planned for the building is expensive. So MainStreet Warner is profoundly grateful to the CDFA for making these funds available and for its help and expertise throughout the application process.”
The MainStreet Warner Lodge project calls for two phases. Phase I focuses on renovating the meeting space and kitchen, adding a walk-in cooler, energy efficiency upgrades, ADA compliancy, and a new HVAC system. Phase II centers on renovating the main hall as an educational and performing art center.
MainStreet Warner would like to express its gratitude to CDFA for their support of this important community project, which advances the nonprofit’s central mission of enriching and supporting the local Warner community by helping people come together to promote the arts, education, food security and ecological sustainability.
Please contact MainStreet Warner at info@mainstreetwarnerinc.org for a tour of the project, to see the renovation plans, and for any additional information.
July 29, 2024