NORWICH — Sunlight streamed through the second-story windows in a century-old building on Norwich’s Main Street, illuminating hardwood floors and a stage.

While it is true that the Upper Valley Community Grange had seen better days, Olive Isaacs, Jess Phelps and Emily Myers could look beyond the decay and see the potential.

“I can sort of envision the activities that would happen here,” Isaacs said during a visit to the grange last Thursday, listing off after-school activities including art programs for children.

Isaacs, Phelps and Myers are members of a new nonprofit organization called the Norwich Community Collaborative that recently purchased the Upper Valley Grange building for $1 from the Upper Valley Community Grange #581. Currently, board members are working with the Preservation Trust of Vermont on an architectural and feasibility assessment to figure out what work the building needs and what to prioritize, in addition to how much it will cost to complete the renovation.

“It’s a great building in decent shape,” Jackson Evans, a field service representative for the Preservation Trust of Vermont, a Montpelier-based nonprofit organization, said during a phone interview. “It’s just ready for new life.”

The current chapter of the grange was established in Norwich in 1905 and moved into the 2,600-square-foot, two-story building — a former harness shop — at 344 Main St., in 1916. In 2002, the Norwich and Hartford grange chapters combined to form the Upper Valley Community Grange.

Around two years ago, community members began talking to members of the Upper Valley Community Grange about what their long-terms plans were for the building, said Phelps, president of the nonprofit’s board. He and others had noticed the building was looking worse for the wear and wanted to know what could be done to help.

“It turns out the grange was really interested in working with us to see if it could be transitioned to a new nonprofit to take it on,” Phelps said in a phone interview. The collaborative is currently researching grant opportunities, in addition to other sources of funding. Phelps emphasized that the project will be done in phases.

Like other chapters throughout the Twin States, the Upper Valley Community Grange has struggled with declining membership, said Lester Gibbs, who is on the executive committee for the grange and has been a member since 1954. There are currently 15 members, 10 of whom are older than 85.

“If we lose two, then we lose the charter,” Gibbs, 83, said in a phone interview this week.

The grange has struggled to come up with the funding to upgrade the building, including repairing the two-story front porch which in past years was where the children who served as angels in the annual Norwich Christmas Pageant were stationed.

“There’s no way the grange would ever have that much money,” Gibbs said about the tens of thousands of dollars likely needed to renovate the building. Even though the grange will no longer own the building, they will continue to meet there. “I think in the long run I think it’s going to be one of the better things that’s happened in the village: A historic building stays there.”

The partnership between the Norwich Community Collaborative and the Upper Valley Community Grange is similar to others that have been formed throughout Vermont, Evans said, citing Berlin’s Capital City Grange, which is a joint effort between the Friends of the Capital City Grange and the Capital City Grange social organization.

Having a 501c3 nonprofit organization that is separate from a grange chapter provides more grant funding opportunities that are not open to the granges, which are classified as 501c6 organizations. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, Evans said he has noticed renewed interest in renovating grange halls.

“I think because granges were purposely built as gathering places, they inherently lend themselves to that kind of use as community gathering space,” Evans said. “As membership in the grange has declined like a lot of other social organizations, groups are still feeling the need for having these gathering spaces.”

That’s how members of the Norwich Community Collaborative feel. One of the mainstays of the grange has been its pancake breakfasts, which were regularly held prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Once the first floor of the building is restored, there are plans to resume those breakfasts.

“There was a big sadness in the town when that couldn’t carry on,” Myers, vice president of the Norwich Community Collaborative board, said in a phone interview.

Pending the outcome of the Preservation Trust of Vermont’s assessment, the current plan is to start by renovating the first floor of the building, including the kitchen.

“We think food is going to be a pretty important part of our work,” Phelps said during an interview at the grange. In the meantime, the collaborative is planning on holding a pancake breakfast at the Norwich Congregational Church on Jan. 20.

While Norwich has other community gathering spots, including Tracy Hall and the Norwich Public Library, there is nothing quite like the grange in town. Myers and Isaacs both grew up in Norwich and returned in recent years to raise their families. They have fond memories of attending events there.

“It’s really neat to know Olive (Isaacs) from back in the day … and now to work on a project as adults that’s going to bring our kiddos together,” Myers said during an interview at the grange. “It’s a full circle.”

For more information about the Norwich Community Collaborative, visit norwichcommunitycollaborative.org. Liz Sauchelli can be reached at esauchelli@vnews.com or 603-727-3221.