The Pike Hall Committee of the Town of Cornish has received a $20,000 grant from the Belvedere Historical Preservation Fund of the Maine Community Foundation to help restore the beautiful performance hall, add a railing to the existing balcony, and add safety features around the hall, in keeping with Fire Marshall recommendations.
“This grant will give new life to a lovely auditorium, adding seating capacity in the balcony, and making it available for community use,” said Sharon Beever, grant writer and Pike Hall Committee member. “By bringing the auditorium, stage and balcony up to fire code, we will increase the seating by almost 90 and several arts organizations & other community groups have already indicated the desire to utilize this amazing place. Someone said the hall reminds them of the one in the movie, To Kill a Mockingbird. We are so thankful to The Maine Community Foundation and The Belevedere Historical Preservation Fund for allowing us to do this important work.”
Pike Hall was designed by John Calvin Stevens, built in 1925, and is on the National Register of Historic Places. The basement now houses the Cornish town offices. When the townspeople decided to save the building to use as town offices, they voted to pay for the renovation in the basement but to have the main level auditorium restored through fundraising and grants. The Pike Hall Committee was created with a mission to undertake the project of restoring the hall and making it safe and usable for public events while maintaining the historic integrity of the building. The Committee has had many dedicated volunteers over the years but currently consists of 8 community members under the direction of chairman John MacIntyre: Peggi Aspinall, Sharon Beever, Diann Perkins, Laurie Carr, Sandra Howe, Anne MacIntyre, and James Ray. For more information, please call (207) 838-2756.
Headquartered in Ellsworth, with additional personnel in Portland, Dover-Foxcroft, and Mars
Hill, the Maine Community Foundation works with donors and other partners to provide strong
investments, personalized service, local expertise, and strategic giving to improve the quality of life for all Maine people. To learn more about the foundation, please visit www.mainecf.org.