Revitalizing Vermont's Villages

In Lunenburg, the future of the Gilman village once felt uncertain. The 2007 closure of the Gilman Paper Company mill dealt a blow to the community, but it was the loss of the middle school a decade later that forced residents to confront what came next.

“People in town were saying that Gilman was too far gone, that it could not be revitalized,” says Gary Briggs, president of the Lunenburg-Gilman Community Trust. Instead, community members imagined something new.

The community applied to the Village Trust Initiative, a collaboration between the VCF, the Vermont Council on Rural Development, and the Preservation Trust of Vermont that provides expertise and funding to help small, rural towns take on downtown revitalization projects. Early support from VCF, including a preconstruction and construction grant, helped them develop the plan to transform their empty school into a community hub. The project expects to create apartments, a gymnasium, and a Head Start preschool, along with space for community events and Town Meeting.

“We can have vibrant communities and hold on to everything we love about rural life,” says Gary. “It’s the partnerships that created momentum. There is possibility now.”