Nancy Eastman had fond memories of the old white building looking over Main Street in Warner.
When it was the First Baptist Church, she regularly attended services. When the building was sold to the local Freemasons in 1964, she sometimes accompanied her father, a member, to their meetings.
Eastman and her husband, John, got to see a new iteration of the building on Friday: a bright main hall with raw wood floors, a huge kitchen with sleek metal countertops and walk-in freezer doors and a concert hall that’s on its way toward completion. The building is now home to the MainStreet Warner Lodge, a community hub in the making.
“It’s exciting that it has a new purpose,” she said. “I think it’s looking marvelous. I’m so impressed with everything.”
The front of the MainStreet Warner Lodge. Credit: EMILIA WISNIEWSKI / Monitor 
The meeting room in the MainStreet Warner Lodge. Credit: EMILIA WISNIEWSKI / Monitor 
The kitchen in the MainStreet Warner Lodge. Credit: EMILIA WISNIEWSKI / Monitor 
The concert hall in the MainStreet Warner Lodge, which still needs $250,000 to complete. Credit: EMILIA WISNIEWSKI / Monitor
MainStreet Warner Lodge’s recent open house gave the community a taste of the space’s potential. While much of the renovation is complete, the building will not be open to the public until its ribbon-cutting ceremony on August 22.
Neil and Katharine Nevins, founders of local nonprofit MainStreet Warner, said the property was deeded to the organization in 2020 and work on it began last spring.
“We had to completely redo everything: the wiring, the plumbing, insulation,” Neil said. “We had to replace all of the ceilings and wall — and we were able to weatherize and insulate fully along the way.”
All told, from resident donations to state-funded grants, the project has raised $850,000. Neil said MainStreet Warner will launch a capital campaign to raise an additional $250,000 for the completion of the concert hall, which he expects will be ready before the ribbon cutting.
Another piece of the project is rooftop solar. MainStreet Warner lost a federal grant due to solar cutbacks, according to Neil, but a Hampton-based company stepped in and provided the nonprofit with an interest-free loan.
With heat pumps and a battery back-up already installed, weatherization has been an important part of outfitting the Lodge.
“The move was to really go towards electrification, and keeping with our mission and a lot of our programs that really move towards renewables as opposed to fossil fuel,” Neil said.
Local organizations have coalesced around the project. Kearsarge Neighborhood Partners — a network of over 100 volunteers offering small home repairs, yard work, meal delivery and more — was involved in supporting MainStreet Warner’s early fundraising efforts.
Mel Hamel, the organization’s partnership coordinator, said Kearsarge Neighborhood Partners received a grant that MainStreet Warner was eligible for, helping the Lodge get its kitchen appliances.
“Now that we have done the partnership, we are now supporting the volunteers … and bringing up somebody as they have events,” Hamel said.
Neil Nevins would like to see children from the Simonds School, located behind the Lodge, take cooking classes with professional chefs.
Katharine Nevins said she used to pass by the building and never paid any mind to it. She said having the opportunity to bring the property back to life was rewarding.
“It’s just been an unappreciated kind of a gem right in the center of town — I mean it’s literally in the center of town,” she said. “So, I think that’s why the town is so excited because they drive by or they walk by and is like, ‘The building is gorgeous. Who knew?'”
