By Dawn De Busk

Staff Writer

NAPLES — Many an old adage makes reference to a strong foundation.

In the Town of Naples, it is the gym roof that needs some support.

The towns-people have already addressed the problem with an unsafe roof. Residents voted at a Special Town Meeting this summer to spend the money to repurpose the gym.

On Monday, an audience member attending the Naples Board of Selectmen’s meeting asked at what stage of progress is the shoring up of the gym roof.

“Do you have an update on what is happening with the old gym,” Arleen Sheperd asked.

Naples Town Manager Jason Rogers fielded the question since he had been brought up to speed on developments.

“Selectman [Colin] Brackett and myself met with Great Falls [Construction] this past week. They had the foreman out here as well as the structural engineer who took an assessment of the inside of the building. The structural engineer is working on designs now,” Rogers said. 

“At a minimum, before the snow starts to fly, we want to shore up the roof and make sure we don’t incur any additional water damage,” he said. “There will be a single beam that will run the length of the building. That beam will spread the load across the three posts.”

“The internal design hasn’t really been worked out, but expect that to happen early next year,” he said.

“The space will be repurposed as a town meeting hall as well some office space,” Rogers said. “It can no longer be used as a gym.”

In the Village Green, there are other town-owned buildings having roofs repaired, too.

The roof repairs on the brick building used by the Marine Safety department “was completed today. They [the contractors] moved over to the museum. They are wrapping up that work. Then, we will contract out for the sheetrock and other work that will be happening inside the museum,” Rogers said.