GRANBY –  Since it was built Kellogg Hall has been used by nearly every town department.

In 1889 and 1890 Chester Kellogg donated the property that the current Hall sits on, along with a $3,000 donation. The purpose of the donations, president of the Granby Preservation Society Gary Phelps explained, was to bring all the students in the town of Granby under one roof. He said prior to Kellogg Hall being built, there were five one-room schoolhouses spread across town.

“This brought everybody together. Kellogg had a vision for a school that his two nieces – he didn't have any children – that his two nieces could come to a central school and get a proper education,” he said. “And my understanding is they were two of the first graduates from the school and they went on.”

Over the years, he said it has been used as a library for the school, a meeting place for the church next door while their building was being constructed, a police station, offices for the Fire Department, the Select Board’s office and the town clerk’s office.

“It’s been transmogrified through the years,” he said.

The Granby Preservation Society (GPS), who is currently working to restore the building to its original glory, bought the building from the town in 2014 for $1. He said when the building was bought, “The town didn’t have a lot of faith in the building.” So GPS hired their own engineer to start the extensive historical renovation process.

“We hired an engineer, an engineering firm took over all the studies that they had done and basically their studies were to get out of here, if anything tear it down,” he said. Their study, however, was different as they were seeking to rehabilitate the hall.

“Our study was to see whether it was capable of being restored, and of course our guy went around to all the holes they made to check out the foundation, and discounted just about everything they said,” he said. “And [he] said yes, it’s sound. It’s good, there’s very little problems, very little sag in the food and everything else. Nothing that’s out of the ordinary, and go ahead and restore it. So that’s what we’ve been doing.”

GPS began the renovation process in 2014 and has been able to accomplish quite a bit in the six short years. “We started it in 2014, but we find that most restorations take a considerable amount of time. Some of them take 15 or 20 years to get what we have done in six,” Phelps said.

He said his first “major job” after GPS took over ownership of the building was to put a new roof on the storage building behind Kellogg Hall referred to as the annex. The annex, he explained, was home to the highway department and the fire department for many years. However, with the new safety complex having been built in recent years, the building is now used as storage.

He said the first two pieces of advice the engineering firm gave GPS was to “heat the building,” and to “paint the building.” Right away, GPS got to work. First was to install heat. Phelps said that step was made possible with the help of heating technicians and a Westfield-based company who donated a brand new boiler. “With the help of four heating techs, and the Mass. Tech Corporation in Westfield, who donated a new boiler, we heated the building,” he said.

The next step in the restoration was painting the hall. He said painting the building would allow it to retain more heat. “The idea is you put the envelope around the building,” he said. The painting, he explained, took a while to finish.

“It took us until this past June to finish painting the exterior, $75,000 worth of paint. Six years now, we did alright,” he said.

Once those two steps were completed, he said the engineer said GPS could go room to room inside the building, renovating each in time. That, he said, is exactly what they have been doing.

“Our ladies have done a lot of cleaning, painting, restoring on all these rooms,” he said. Additionally, a ramp has been added to the hall’s front entrance to allow for everyone to access the building and their annual events.

Typically, GPS hosts tag sales, car shows, artisan shows, a haunted house and a festival of trees to raise money and continue the historic renovations. However, this year due to COVID-19, they have been unable to host a majority of their events. They have continued to fundraise and be creative though, instead, hosting a Festival of Baskets rather than their annual Festival of Trees.

Phelps said ultimately GPS would like to see the building used as a concert venue or entertainment hall. “We have a fellow who teaches cello right now, he would like to teach and he would like to give small concerts. And people who want an office,” he said.

He said while showcasing the building to people in town and neighboring communities was a significant goal of GPS, they were also hoping to be a resource to others who decided to undertake historic renovations.

“The purpose for GPS is not only restoring this building, but local folks who have a historic room. The people up the street are doing a beautiful job at restoring one of the houses. We can give them pointers and send them in the direction of the Western Mass. historical people,” he said. “It’s our position to educate people in the valley of the history, and the history of the building.”

He said he’s thankful for the community and everyone that has helped them so far with the progress they’ve been able to make. “Thinking about these days, the people that have helped us so far are the small membered Chester Kelloggs,” he said.

Those interested in donating to the renovations, or interested in becoming a member of the GPS can visiting https://www.granbypreservationsociety.org/kellogghall or the Kellogg Hall Facebook page. Donations can also be mailed to the Granby Preservation Society at 250 State St. Granby, MA 01033.