THE IMPORTANCE OF RE-USE

Last week in Bath The Maine Development Foundation's Downtown Institute held a conference on Green Design and Historic Preservation. Many compelling environmental arguments were made for saving the Freight Shed and creating a place for local farmers and food producers to connect with more people in the heart of our downtown is just one way this project is responding to community needs.

Please join the 126 people who have already backed this effort by going to: KICKSTARTER to pledge! 13 days left to go to raise $9,515 ($8,485 pledged to date)

Public meeting at Bath City Hall Thurs. March 22nd at Noon.

http://www.preservationnation.org/information-center/sustainable-communities/sustainability/green-lab/valuing-building-reuse.html

Reuse Matters. Building reuse typically offers greater environmental savings than demolition and new construction. It can take between 10 to 80 years for a new energy efficient building to overcome, through efficient operations, the climate change impacts created by its construction. The study finds that the majority of building types in different climates will take between 20-30 years to compensate for the initial carbon impacts from construction.

Update

One week into our KICKSTARTER we are thrilled at the response.. 65 people have pledged already! It is heartwarming to see that folks want to support our kind of grass root effort to make a healthier community where students have a major role bringing this historic structure back to life.. creating their farmers' market a food hub, that will also be a place for boat building programs and the arts!

We are very grateful for the generous pledges $3,251.00 so far (18% of the goal) and for the new connections - great ideas, offers of a bicycle rack and local boat tours!

4 weeks left to go - together we can succeed! Thank you for helping to get the word out and for your support!

Ready set GO!!

Our kickstarter is launched..

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/208904568/power-to-the-freight-shed-building-a-winter-farmer

The more participation we have at the start the more attention we will get! This equals more light fixtures, insulation and programming at the Freight Shed. It is all or nothing we have to reach our goal - which is $18,000 by March 31st or receive $0. We can exceed our goal though and we certainly need more than $18,000 for the renovation.
Kickstarter has been covered in all major media - it is a way that people can participate in supporting, causes, design, new films, music - you name it and now the Freight Shed Renovation Effort is a part of it!

We need your help spreading the word and as pledgers! Even a dollar pledge will make you a part of it! Check out all the wonderful ways this community is pitching in - whether you are in São Paulo, Amsterdam or Cairns... If you think that people have the power to make change and that local food hubs can be the place to bring a community together--- prove it by supporting us for even one dollar -- or show up most any day and there will be things to do!

Kickstarter works with pledge rewards. They are a unique way that our friends can make in-kind donations to the Freight Shed. So you will find many wonderful things from a pre- release of the Arrowsic's new CD, a custom design, locally sourced tee shirt by Evan Farley, Bath Farmers' Market veggies and products, stays at both the Kismet Inn and Spa and the Inn at Bath. Do you have friends or relatives coming to visit Maine this summer? Would you rather have them stay in town instead of under your roof? Send them our link…2 people, 2 nights B+B, massage, dinner at Solo Bistro plus bicycle rentals - height of the summer… plus tee shirts and a CD.. Do the math, add a feel good factor.. they are helping create a local food hub and a place for educational programing and more…$1,840 there are only 4 available so act fast!

WHAT ELSE YOU CAN DO:
- Friend us on Facebook
- Post our Kickstarter Project on your Facebook Status
- Tweet about our Kickstarter Project
- Post about our Kickstarter Project on your blog
- Email our Kickstarter Project to your friends
- Embed our Kickstarter Project in your signature from now until March 31
- Tell everyone!

Let's see how far we can go!!!

Meeting today with CO Beck Roofing to get an estimate to replace the Freight Shed Roof. Seeing the hole in the roof, as you drive over the bridge into Bath, is getting old! We have much work to do in conjunction with this but getting real with the numbers will actually get us closer to making it happen. Perhaps we can convince them to join the effort and make an in kind donation? - As Gilman Electric just did! If you are downtown in the early afternoon most week days stop in and see our electrical technology students in their Freight Shed Classroom.

This Place Matters | 2011

Power to the Freight Shed

On November 17th we met with Steve Vachon's Electrical Technology Students at the Bath Freight Shed. The Bath Regional Career and Technical Center program is a tremendous resource for the community and we are delighted that they will help us in our effort to renovate the Freight Shed.
This class will use the Freight Shed to study electrical systems from the past and for the future. We have a materials list from them and now it is up to us to provide them!

Maine Preservation Grant

The Bath Freight Shed Alliance (BFSA) has received a $1,000 planning seed grant from Maine Preservation. This matching grant will be used for engineering and documentation. The committee commended “the performance of the organization (BFSA) over the past year and the progress made both in turning public opinion in support of the adaptive re-use option for this important building and site.”

In announcing the grant, Maine Preservation acknowledged the special historical and contemporary importance of the former Maine Central Railroad Freight Shed. Specifically, its unique downtown location at the site of the former ferry landing and its contribution to rail and river transportation during the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries earned it inclusion in Bath’s National Register Downtown Historic District.

Maine Preservation field representative, Christopher Closs, cited the critical access the building and waterfront site provide to the Kennebec River for residents, shoppers, visitors and tourists in the heart of downtown and year-round with the Bath Farmers’ Market, Kennebec Estuary Land Trust and Maine’s First Ship partners.