In a recent celebration marking the Rural Development Fund, Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll joined community leaders to highlight significant progress on a transformative project for a former school building in the Hilltown region. This initiative aims to repurpose the building into a vibrant hub for local government, recreational facilities, a children's library, and commercial spaces, responding directly to community desires expressed in early planning stages.

The journey began in late 2019 when an ad hoc group gathered community input to envision a multifunctional space that would serve various needs. However, the path to realization became clearer with the assistance of Dave Christopoulos from the Hilltown Community Development Corporation, who guided the group toward a feasibility study funded by a One Stop grant from the state’s underutilized property program. This study confirmed the community's vision but also revealed that the project would require more resources than initially anticipated.

In spring 2024, the town applied for additional One Stop funding to advance construction documents, leading to a successful grant award from the Rural Development Fund in fall 2024. This funding is a crucial step toward revitalizing the building, which is expected to benefit not only the town but the broader Hilltown region for generations.

The Hilltown CDC is poised to become an anchor tenant, utilizing the rehabilitated kitchen and cafeteria space for its mobile market food program and a new food production incubator. Community members eagerly anticipate the day when town offices will relocate to a more accessible site, alongside entrepreneurs operating in newly created commercial rental spaces.

As the project progresses, residents look forward to the sounds of children playing in the preschool and the echo of basketball shoes in the gym, signaling a new chapter for the building and the community. The Lieutenant Governor's presence at the celebration underscores the importance of state support in local development efforts, reinforcing a shared commitment to revitalizing the Hilltown region.