Our Building

The building was constructed in 1901 as the Third Falls Village Methodist Church to replace the Second Methodist church, which was burned (along with much of downtown Falls Village) in a disastrous fire in 1899. The building was eventually deconsecrated and the end of the 20th century found it being used by R&D Emerson Rare and Used Books. After the owners retired, the building sat abandoned for several years until a group of concerned citizens, led by several board members of FVTC, set out to raise funds for its acquisition. 

The acquisition price of $150,000 was met by contributions from the town of Canaan, the Community Foundation of Northwest Connecticut, several local business and over 90 individuals. Immediately after acquiring the building in 2007, the board set out to raise funds to repair the roof, which was deemed the highest priority construction project. A $20,000 grant from the Berkshire-Taconic Foundation was matched by private funds of about $30,000 to underwrite the $50,000 cost of repairing the roof, which was completed in the fall of 2007. A STEAP grant in 2008 for $200,000 allowed continued work to be done in the Center on Main, preparing for a 2013 opening.