main street revitalization
Groundbreaking on Bennington’s Putnam Block Project
The members of the BRG recog-
nized three important things: First,
nobody from outside Bennington was
coming to save the town. Second, a
strong, vibrant Main Street is the
key to the community’s collective
health, stability, and sustainability.
Third, the members of the BRG
would need to be the changemakers
to breathe a new life into the slum-
bering 4 acres in the center of their
town. They asked themselves, could
one significant downtown redevel-
opment project really transform a
downtown? They looked to the east,
across Southern Vermont, to find
their answer in Brattleboro—and the
answer was, “yes.” The example they
used was Brattleboro’s Brooks House.
The Brooks House, like Bennington’s
Putnam Block, sits on Main Street, in
the geographic and historic heart of
46 manchester life | manchesterlifemagazine.com
Brattleboro’s downtown. An iconic
brick building, it spans the corner at
the intersection of US Route 9 and
US Route 5. Sounds familiar, right?
In April 2011, a five-alarm fire gutted
much of the building, destroying the
homes of more than 80 people and
several businesses. Resurrecting the
Brooks House was essential to the
health and viability of Brattleboro’s
downtown, but it quickly became
evident that insurance money and
traditional funding wouldn’t be
enough to rehabilitate the structure.
This was no garden-variety patch-
n-paint. It would require a complex,
multilayered financing package. After
two years of sitting idle and increas-
ing anxiety among the community, a
group of five local citizens stepped
forward, purchased the building, and
organized a restoration plan. In 2014,
the Brooks House reopened its doors
to the community, with Vermont
Technical College as its anchor
tenant, along with several other com-
mercial enterprises and 23 high-qual-
ity, mixed income apartments in the
upper stories. Since then, Brattleboro
has continued to thrive.
Similarly, the Putnam project has the
same opportunity. The 3 restored
buildings are in the final stages of
revitalization and have already been
leased to several residential and com-
mercial tenants. Built in 1870, the
building that was formally the home
of the Bennington County Court-
house will contain retail and office
spaces. Constructed in 1837, the
building on the corner of Main and
South streets, formally Hotel Put-
nam, will now contain retail shops
and eateries with outdoor dining on
the first floor and apartments on the