BELLOWS FALLS, Vt. – With spring on the way, it is time for an update on the Miss Bellows Falls Diner project. What is the current timeline? Where do things stand with fundraising? How is the new design coming along? The public is welcome to sit down and catch up with the Rockingham for Progress team at the Rockingham Free Public Library on Thursday, March 28, at 7 p.m.
It has been a whirlwind year for the diner and Rockingham for Progress (RFP). After purchasing the diner in June 2023, and announcing plans for restoration of the diner, as well as adding ADA-compliant bathrooms, additional seating, and a kitchen, RFP embarked on the daunting legwork and fundraising to qualify the project for the grants necessary to make a community-supported enterprise model work. Much has been accomplished, with much more to do. Now it is time for a progress report on the Miss Bellows Falls Diner. We will talk with our guest, designer Raphael Rosner of Austin Design Cooperative, about the opportunities and challenges in getting the Miss Bellows Falls, which arrived in town in May 1944, ready for her next 80 years of service.
Raphael and the small creative team at Austin Design Cooperative bring a combined more than 150 years of experience to the Miss Bellows Falls Diner project. Based in New England, the cooperative is known for their expertise in all things design, from taprooms, to bus shelters, and everything in between. Raphael, who says he is always in search of a good eggs benedict, leads the three-person team including Tom Chalmers and Bryan Louisell, in coordination with RFP, to set the stage for returning the diner to its former glory and beyond.
Raphael and the Miss Bellows Falls team will show the current plans and layout for the project, although RFP cautions that the design is, at this point, still conceptual in nature, and is meant to indicate basic building massing and flow, rather than the final finish and design.
Fundraising continues, and the www.missbellowsfalls.com website is up and running, offering a variety of high-quality, locally-sourced premiums for donations at various levels, including mugs designed by artist Ezra Veith, pins by Amar&Riley, diner soaps from Grace and Miss Mouse Soaps, and “Diner Boxes” of spice mixtures from Halladay’s Harvest Barn. As well, both, stool, and counter space “naming rights” are also available.
The Rockingham Free Public Library, the Historic Preservation Office of the Town of Rockingham, and RFP join together in a series of conversations about the diner’s past and its future with these free events at the library, located at 65 Westminster Street. This program was made possible with support from the Vermont Division for Historic Preservation and the Town of Rockingham Historic Preservation Committee.