UMFORD — The 1828 Rumford Center Meeting House will soon have a new granite-face foundation and sit about 20 incher higher.

Linda Macgregor of the Rumford Center Village Improvement Society said the work is being done by contractor Jim Barnett.

The historic building is the original town hall and meeting place.

Since 1804, when Francis Keyes was charged with constructing a meeting house “as near to the center as may be,” the house has occupied the same site at 1352 Route 2 in Rumford Center village. It has always served as the community’s gathering place. Though still in use, its foundation is crumbling, paint is peeling and not one system is up to code.

Since 1924, the society has used the building exclusively and has done everything from plays to concerts, to having it available to the community for various uses.

The Select Board leased the building to the nonprofit Rumford Center Village Improvement Society, months after residents voted in a nonbinding poll in June 2021 not to support the town raising and appropriating a then-estimated $600,000 for repairs and improvements.

Donations can be made online at https://fundly.com/help-us-save-the-meeting-house. Donations to the nonprofit are tax deductible.

Membership to Rumford Center Village Improvement Society is $25 per household per year. The membership year runs May through April. To join, send payment to the Rumford Center Village Improvement Society, P.O. Box 361, Rumford, ME 04276. Include your name, contact information, and note the payment is for membership.