Barn / Pavilion Status
During November of 2006, the combination of an anonymous donation and a matching funds donation from the Walpole Cooperative Bank enabled us to reach our goal of $100,000 for the barn/pavilion project. The mild December weather provided an opening for a series of volunteers to start work on the project. John Glossa (Glossa Engineering) laid out the location of the foundation, Kenny Jones and his son (Kenny Jones Corporation) came in and dug the foundation hole and Brian Breslin (Complete Concrete) put up forms and built the foundation.
Once it had dried, it was filled with material supplied by Tony Lorusso (S.M. Lorusso & Sons, Inc.) and was “put to bed” for the winter to await an April construction start. Through all this, Kevin Sullivan (Sullivan Concrete) coordinated the work and supervised the details. The only cost to the Friends for this portion of the project was the concrete and special boom trucks for pumping it.
To our surprise, the weather continued to be unseasonably mild, and Circle B Barn Company of Lancaster arrived in the second week of January to start construction. We had previously received approval from the Walpole Building Inspector for the building plans. For the first 10 days or so, they were able to make great progress until the weather changed and they were forced to skip some days. Essentially complete, the building awaited the “frost-out” in the spring so that the slab floor could be poured prior to installing the interior stairs. One late addition to our plans was to put a ceiling in the pavilion to keep the birds from nesting in the rafters.
As of this writing, a new white fence graces the main entrance to the Farm. The barn and pavilion have been completed and are ready to be enjoyed by the public. The barn has been painted a welcoming shade of red, picnic tables provide seating for visitors to the pavilion, and a new information kiosk on a brick patio will keep visitors up-to-date on the latest news at the Farm.
There are many other people to thank that contributed to this effort which turned out to be a real community affair:
- Mike Keefe (B+K Architectural Associates) for the original conceptual drawing and site layout
- Bob Berry (Berry Insurance) for insurance to cover us through the construction phase
- The Walpole Woman’s Club for their help with fundraising
- Rhonda LaVerghetta and Cliff Snuffer for fundraising efforts
- Norfolk Hunt Club for their generosity
And there are many more, too many to list at this time. Click here for a complete list of donors to the new barn and pavilion complex at Adams Farm.