SOUTH DEERFIELD — With just under a month until the project comes before voters at a special Town Meeting, residents got a chance to offer feedback on design concepts for the 1888 Building’s adaptive reuse and rehabilitation.

Voters will be asked at a Special Town Meeting Oct. 7 to consider approximately $3.8 million in Community Preservation Act money to fund the rehabilitation of the 136-year-old building at 67 North Main St., with plans to turn it into a modern town office.

If approved, the CPA money would supplement a $4 million congressional earmark from U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern that will be used to construct an addition on the west side of the building on Conway Street.

In total, with engineering and other costs included, the project is estimated at $8.5 million and is not expected to be funded with direct taxpayer dollars.

The remaining balance that is not covered by CPA funding or the earmark will be paid for through $650,000 in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) money.

“Public construction in Massachusetts is very expensive and it’s expensive in the valley, too. It’s not cheaper out in western Mass. than eastern Mass. like it used to be,” said Project Manager Dan Pallotta, who is also managing the neighboring Tilton Library expansion project. “These are the numbers we’re expecting and we’re not going to pretend that they’re not.”

An information night last Thursday attracted approximately 40 residents who had an opportunity to share their thoughts on Kuhn Riddle Architects’ design and talk with project team members.

After a brief presentation from architect Charles Roberts and senior interior designer Karen Michalowski, much of the focus was on the aesthetics of the white addition alongside the brick 1888 Building.

“There’s a nice kind of balance happening compositionally between the addition and the 1888 Building,” Roberts said, emphasizing the “glassy” connector bridge bringing old and new together. The design and framing of the addition, he added, is based on the “traditional New England meetinghouse” style and its positioning “doesn’t change the view of the 1888 Building at all from the North Main Street approach.”

Residents were split on the appearance of the addition, as some said the white color shown in the designs is too different from the weathered bricks on the 1888 Building.

“I find it is startling to see what is a new, modern building glommed onto this historic building,” said resident Pam Predmore. “It’s one of the things that was commented on when the library was first designed. … I think having it be a similar color, or at the very least, add trim that echoes the trim on the 1888 Building to tie it in.”

“I find the contrast between the 1888 Building and the white building to be really severe,” added Peter Thomas, noting that the “glow” of the screen the slideshow was presented on may have exacerbated the difference between the two structures.

Highlights of the project include bringing all town offices under the two roofs of the addition and 1888 Building, which are about 2,600 and 5,000 square feet, respectively.

The addition includes a meeting room with a 49-person capacity and an entrance on the west side of the building facing the Police Department and current Town Hall.

“We do have a lot of people to accommodate in this building,” Michalowski said. “We tried to maximize every square inch of this building.”

Rehabilitation work on the 1888 Building will include brick repointing, ivy removal, repair of gutters and the removal of all exterior structures that were added over the years.

The interior of the building, Roberts said, will undergo a “full-gut renovation” as all contaminants will be abated, mechanical systems will be modernized and the building will be brought into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Roberts said Kuhn Riddle Architects is open to hearing more feedback.

Deerfield Select Board Chair Tim Hilchey added that the project will also go through another design phase if it is approved by voters at Town Meeting.

“We’re hearing thoughts about the color and we can look at that more,” Roberts said. “We’re not completely dogmatic.”

While most project details were laid out to residents Thursday evening, one question, as pointed out by resident Jeff Upton, remains: “What is going to happen” with the current Town Hall?

At this point, the future of 8 Conway St. is to be determined, according to Deerfield Planning and Economic Development Coordinator Christopher Dunne.

“At this point, we don’t know. That hasn’t been determined yet,” Dunne said. “We do have some renderings and some concepts of what would happen if there was senior housing.”

With the town pursuing senior housing development, there is talk about potentially demolishing the Town Hall to accommodate the project, but that plan is far off and no decisions have been made yet.

CPA funding for the 1888 Building, which was unanimously recommended by the Community Preservation Committee, comes before voters Oct. 7 at a Special Town Meeting set to start at 6 p.m. at Frontier Regional School. A second information session will be held in early October.

Chris Larabee can be reached at clarabee@recorder.com.