Banner image caption: The beams of Rice Hall were fashioned as part of a community timber framing class led by Tim Beal in the early 2000s and the frame was raised in April 2004.

When Ryan Cross created the design for our new shirt this past fall, the silhouette of Rice Hall on the hill was instantly recognizable and a fitting emblem for Cobscook as a whole. Since the first days of Cobscook, Rice Hall has been representative of our mission–the materials for the construction were financed by the community, the design included a community learning around timber frame construction, and we kicked off the building with a “barn raising” of the initial frame. In the nearly 18 years since Rice Hall went live, it has served as the nest for staff, students, and community partners all doing the good work of sharing, learning, and building connection.

Since then, we’ve cultivated trails, added the fire circle and Jimmy Soctomah Park, the bandstand and the community garden. All of these changes have been made for the sake of expanding our capacity to bring people together, to facilitate learning, and to build a home place for all the people of our region.

However, 18 years is a long time for a building to see such heavy and sustained use, and recently we’ve been seeing a need for more substantial investment in updates for our beloved Rice Hall. This year brought with it some leakage and water damage as the existing roof began to show its age, and we know our kids deserve better than to go to school under a leaky roof! We were able to engineer a short-term solution to minimize damage as things got cold, but when the snow recedes, roof replacement needs to be a top priority for Rice Hall.

In addition, as programming on campus continues to expand, we’ve come to realize that some of our spaces lack the kind of accessibility that is welcoming for all.

To resolve this, we are making some short-term improvements to our campus to enhance wheelchair accessibility for Rice Hall, the Commons, and the Heartwood Lodge, but more substantial improvements are needed to ensure easy year-round access to all buildings and improved access to outdoor spaces such as the bandstand.

As Janna and Sally-Jo Rice, daughters of Rice Hall’s namesakes Wayne and Lorraine Rice, said, “Our parents’ dedication to creating a safe learning space for all ages was evident to everyone that they work with…the pride that they expressed to us over having that building named after them is the same pride that we feel every time we step foot on the Cobscook Institute campus.”

Ongoing support for our general operations and programming is always our highest priority for community giving. However, if you feel called to support our goal of replacing the Rice Hall roof and improving accessibility structures on campus, we would welcome your help in reaching our goal of $25,000 in campus construction funds by August 15.