THE BUILDING
Built in 1871, the building located at 299 Grand Army Road was originally built to house the Sisters of Mercy, orphanage, and boarding school.
Across from Saint Dennis Church, the second oldest Catholic Church in New England, The Saint Dennis Convent, Academy and Orphanage operated until it closed in 1888, as it never fully suited any one purpose well, due to its remote location. On New Years Eve 1922, the building burned losing all of its wooden structure, including its third floor Mansard (French) Roof. At an undetermined time later (we’re still researching the details) a new internal wooden structure and roof was built using the original brick facade. This new configuration was in a more community serving "meeting house" style and was used for a century as such. The Parish Meeting Hall hosted events such as the Irish Picnic, countless craft fairs, and community suppers, as well as the occasional contra dance. The Knights of Columbus also used the main hall as its meeting hall for many decades. All while the Church continued to use the building regularly for receptions, and large holiday celebrations. It was a very busy place!
In 1999 the building underwent a major renovation and remediation in order to be used as a Head Start school for area children. It was at this time that the basement was fully finished and much work was put into modernizing the buildings efficiency and heating systems.
Our Goal as Stewards of the Old Parish Meeting Hall:
The challenge for historic buildings in Maine is always balancing efficiency with history. It's a big, lofty, and leaky building. Our first goal is going to be updating some of the critical infrastructures. This includes roof, windows, and foundation. Our second goal is going to be phasing in new, more sustainable power and heating systems. We are excited to be working with Revision Energy next year to install a solar array somewhere on the property that will someday soon cover both our power usage as well as some of our heat usage. And finally, we plan on being strategic about how the space is used seasonally. This will be achieved by zoning the spaces by closing down, and isolating, large inefficient spaces in the cold months and opening them up to their full glory in the warm months. This isn’t a new idea. In fact, in New England it's a very old one.
We have a passion for old buildings, especially buildings that mean so many things to so many different people. And this building means a lot to us.
We’ve changed our whole lives to be here and to fold ourselves into this space. We are beside ourselves with excitement about this, and thrilled to be part of this place’s history.
~Lisa and Christopher
