Article Written by Kaitlin Flannigan
ST. JOHNSBURY - St. Johnsbury residents are willing to pay for changes to the abandoned armory building in town. A bond was approved for $5.4 million on Tuesday, September 14 in a 255-170 vote.
The town will borrow the money to restore the armory and turn it into a new "public safety" building. Resident Johanna Hasting was not in favor of the bond and questioned the reasoning behind it. "For three decades, they told us the fire department was under-housed and this does not address that need. It would be more reasonable to build a bright facility," she told News7.
However, the majority of the town was in favor of possibly borrowing money. Representative Scott Campbell (D) stopped by the Welcome Center to cast his vote. He expressed that "taking a derelict building and renovating it, putting it back in service" was what was in the best interest of St. Johnsbury.
The total cost of the project is estimated to be $5.8 million, but some of the money has already been set aside through a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.