CORNISH — A year after voters narrowly approved a petitioned article to accept the former general store on Route 120 as a donation for use as the town’s library and community center, the issue continues to divide the community.

In this year’s Town Meeting elections, incumbent trustee Laura Cousineau, a supporter of the library project, defeated Karen Gillock by four votes, 238-234. A recount last week had the same results.

Gillock said Thursday she believes the close vote reflects a town not fully on board with plans to close the George H. Stowell Library, which is also on Route 120 not far from the store.

“I totally believe residents are still divided on this,” Gillock said, adding that the recount with identical results, “reaffirms that the voting system in town works.”

A message left for Cousineau was not returned by deadline.

Colleen O’Neill, who owns the store and agreed to donate it to the town, acknowledged that some residents have not been won over to the plan to close Stowell, which is 1,000 square feet and lacks accessibility and indoor plumbing, and replace it with the 6,000-square-foot store, but she hopes that division fades.

“I hope in time a majority of voters come together for the project and see this as very positive,” O’Neill said. “This is a wonderful opportunity.”

O’Neill is on the board of the Cornish Community Initiative, which is heading up the store renovations. The CCI was established as a nonprofit in 2019 to promote community activities in town and has a number of committees working on the library project. Information about the project, including architectural designs, is available on the initiative’s website, cornishci.org.

During the discussion at the 2023 Town Meeting, supporters of keeping the library where it is said it could be renovated to make it more accessible and add indoor plumbing at a cost far less than renovating the store.

The Cornish Library Exploratory Committee had voted 4-3 in the fall of 2022 to move the library. Those who favored renovating the store said the new space would allow for the library, to increase its collection, have a larger children’s area and add a technology area. Renovating the Stowell would still not meet the needs of the town, they said.

Resident Leigh Callahan is among those who favors the new library. She said even if the two main issues are resolved at Stowell, the interior will need to be completely redone and that would destroy a lot of the character of the 1910 building.

Callahan acknowledged there is still opposition to the store conversion project but hopes more people will come on board.

“I think it will take a while before people are not so divided and once we have a new library that will do a lot to mend fences,” Callahan said. “People who take the time to see the website will have a lot more information.”

In a letter to the Valley News in early March, Gillock said she thought the committees ought to be more forthcoming about the project’s progress and discuss the future of the Stowell building when it is no longer a library.

“Some are still very uncomfortable with this,” Gillock said. “I would love to have them be mindful of that and transparency would be a good start.”

At Town Meeting earlier this month, that the initiative’s treasurer gave an update on the project including fundraising which has hit $800,000, and they work to keep their website current with new information, O’Neill said.

“I think we have been open on our website,” she said. Now, with Town Meeting over and contested elections settled, O’Neill said the initiative’s members plan to go before the Selectboard and library trustees and invite questions about the project.

The town’s approval of moving the library to the former store at the 2023 Town Meeting, 268-256, came with the condition that the money would be raised within five years and no town funds would be required.

O’Neill said last week that Banwell Architects, of Lebanon, has completed architectural drawings. O’Neill said they have an estimate of $3 million, expect to have construction documents in June and will soon begin a fundraising campaign.

In addition to the $800,000 in pledges and donations the initiative has raised so far, the late Laird Klinger, who passed away in 2022, donated $375,000, O’Neill said. A grant application for the Northern Borders Regional Commission was submitted last week.

“The fundraising committee is exploring all grant opportunities,” said O’Neill. “We are doing a capital campaign called ‘Unite, Build, Grow’ to raise the $3 million.”

O’Neill said they expect to have the construction documents in June and will then pause to fund raise. She said the bidding and construction phases will take between 12 and 15 months but the start date will depend on timing and fundraising.

In the meantime, the former store is being used for regular meetings of clubs and groups and a variety of programs involving the arts, education, public affairs, community development, historic resources, the environment, recreation and social services.

“It is a very active space now,” O’Neill said. “We are very excited and feel the former general store is a community center. We hope the community will support this project and once it is built, everyone will be using it.”

Patrick O’Grady can be reached at pogclmt@gmail.com.