Work Begins on Chase’s Tavern

by Ellen Nielsen

(from The Unity Newsletter, June 2002)

At the 2002 Town Meeting, Unity residents voted to begin a project to restore Chase’s Tavern, a large two-story house, built at the end of the 18^th century, which is located on Center Unity Road, across from our town green and behind the firehouse.  The house and land were purchased several years ago by the Town of Unity.  Originally, the plan was to build a new building for our town offices and library, now located in the school, and our police station, now located in the fire station.   But what about the historic building already on the site?   It was an essentially sound building, although it had suffered during the 30 years it sat unoccupied.  It had no heating system and no running water.  The 19^th century addition had been torn down and replaced by a much smaller shed addition.

The house had been used as a thrift shop by the Unity PTC, but the shop had closed.  People who had volunteered to work in the thrift shop could testify that the building was dark, chilly, and gloomy even on a bright summer day.  Some people hated the pea-soup green color of the exterior paint. 

But others saw the building’s potential and decided it was worth saving.  The Unity Historical Society, with the assistance of Jim Romer and Jim Kahn, helped the Town obtain a grant from the New Hampshire Land and Community Heritage Investment Program (LCHIP).  The grant will make it possible for the Town of Unity to restore and renovate the house so that it can be used for the town offices, the library, and the historical society at a cost to the Town that will not exceed the price of a new building.  The voters at Town Meeting accepted the grant and approved the plan for the restoration.

After a bidding process, the contract for the restoration project was awarded to Rod Gray, who is a Unity resident and whose company did the professional work on the Bell Tower restoration.  (Rod also did a great deal of volunteer work on the Bell Tower.)

Jim Kahn, who has extensive experience working on historic buildings, and who designed the restoration plan, will oversee the project.  The project will be funded by tax dollars from the Town of Unity, the LCHIP grant, and the Unity Historical Society, which has pledged to raise $19,500 in private funds.

Once the contract was awarded, work on the project began, and has been proceeding rapidly.  The first change that people noticed was that the small shed on the west end of the house was removed and relocated to another part of the lot, where it will serve as a temporary shop where power tools can be used and safely stored.  The plan calls for re-creating the larger and more graceful nineteenth century wing, complete with porches and a wheelchair ramp.  By June 1, the foundation for this wing will have been poured, as well as the foundation for the fireproof vault for the town records.  The basement has been cleared out and work has begun on the driveway and drainage system.  Some of these early steps in the process are not visible to people driving by, but they must be completed before the actual restoration of the interior can begin.

 Pictures by Doug Lawson

Tour the Chase’s Tavern Restoration Project on Tuesday, August 6, or Tuesday, August 20, at 9:00 am.    Participate in the Project by contributing to the Chase’s Tavern Restoration Fund of the Unity Historical Society.