Repairs are starting at Woolwich’s Nequasset Meeting House. The landmark building across from the town office on Nequasset Road is one of the oldest in town.

Due to the cost, repairs will need to be done in phases over the next few years, said Debbie Locke, citizen chair of the Nequasset Meeting House Committee. At town meeting last spring, voters approved taking $10,000 in alewives sale profits to help with the meeting house repairs. Installation of a vapor barrier will begin this month and be done in December. Locke said it’s very much needed.

“It was among the recommendations of a historical survey we had done,” she explained. She said Hugh Savage of Up-Country Building Inspectors of Scarborough inspected the site in 2012.

Selectman Allen Greene has been working with the restoration committee. He said TC Hafford Basement Systems will install the vapor barrier in the crawl space beneath the building. “It will basically prevent moisture from penetrating the stone foundation and into the building,” said Greene. Eliminating dampness stops mold and mildew from forming and prevents wood rot.

Another issue Locke said pointing to the roof is the soffit rotting on the building’s western side. “It will either need to be repaired or replaced so that eventually we can have gutters installed. The gutters will keep water from the roof runoff from falling onto the handicap ramp we installed at the side entrance.”

Paint is peeling on the building’s clapboard and trim and needs scraping, caulking and repainting. Locke said volunteers have helped with the upkeep inside the building. Greene and wife Janice worked many hours on their hands and knees removing broken linoleum on the floor. After sanding, they repainted the floor with brown enamel.

The meeting house was built in 1757, Locke continued. She said it looks much the same as when it was a house of worship. For decades it was home to the town’s congregational church and Sunday school.

Woolwich’s first town meeting was held there in 1761 and continued there until a town house was built in 1837 at the junction of Old Stage and Dana Mills roads. Town meetings are now held at Woolwich Central School. Three cast iron wood stoves used to heat the meeting house in the 19th century are still there, two downstairs at the rear of the meeting room, and another upstairs behind the balcony. Greene said today the building is heated by propane with a modern Rinnai heater.

Locke showed the Wiscasset Newspaper a set of small wooden stools. “They weren’t for kneeling on, they were set on the floor under the pews for the parishioners to put their feet on to stay warm.” At the front of the meeting room are a raised pulpit, a small stage and a working Reed organ Estey Organ manufactured in 1914. It’s operated by pumping foot pedals. “Its pipes by the way are non-working, they’re purely decorative,” Locke said.

Greene said another unusual fact is the grain patterns on the pews and wooden wainscoating aren’t natural, they were very skillfully painted on. “I suppose they did that because when they built the church, they couldn’t afford to buy the more expensive wood.” Locke noted before electricity was installed in 1922, light was provided by a 600-candle power chandelier donated by parishioners from Bath. The building has never had plumbing, she added.

The meeting house is still occasionally used for community events. At 11 a.m. Monday, Nov. 11, the community will hold its Veteran’s Day Service. The meeting house is also the site of the Dec. 8 Yule Sing with live holiday music by the Monstweagers and others.