Site work before winter sought for Village at Winston Prouty
By Chris Mays, Brattleboro Reformer, published July 16, 2025
BRATTLEBORO — Planning for infrastructure work for the first phase of The Village at Winston Prouty, which entails 28 housing units, is underway.
Last month, the town was notified that the Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development would provide a “one-time Capital Bill State-Direct grant to Brattleboro” in the amount of $750,000 to be “subgranted to the Village at Winston Prouty housing development.”
“The Vermont Legislature appropriated funds to be granted directly to the municipality to support this project to ensure its success,” the letter states. “The project will create critical new housing that is desperately needed in the region as demonstrated by both the statewide and local housing needs assessments.”
Chloe Learey, executive director of the Winston Prouty Center for Child and Family Development, called the money and acknowledgement from Gov. Phil Scott’s administration “great.”
“It gives us credibility,” Learey said. “They think it’s possible and want to be part of the solution.”
Learey said her team is working with the town to plan for what type of infrastructure is needed and timelines.
“There’s some specifics to work out,” said Dan Tyler, director of the Brattleboro Department of Public Works.
Tyler said the first phase will be served by existing town sewer and water, however, the campus has some pressure deficiencies.
“The funding will really allow them to pursue a pump station, which will boost the pressure and kind of clean up some of those existing deficiencies and also set them up for a future development to have adequate water service,” he said. “Hopefully the grant allows them to incorporate the pump station into this first phase. That’s on them to work out. They know what sum of money they’re working with.”‘
Learey said the Select Board will need to vote to accept the grant, which she anticipates could happen “very soon.”
“I think it’s in motion, which is great because our very aspirational goal is to get site work done before the ground freezes this winter,” Learey said. “That means we need to get the equipment in there, get the site plan set, figure out what the utilities look like and keep it moving before the ground freezes. That’s my hope, so it’s good that it’s moving along.”
The green building, known as the Wheeler House at the Prouty center, is being emptied in anticipation of demolition planned as part of the first phase of the project to make way for the new apartment building.
“Things are being taken out that can be salvaged,” Learey said. “We’ve taken what we can use. We always needs toilets and washer machines and dryers and things like that.”
Deconstruction Works is taking out cabinets and other items that the Prouty Center will not need. The company “specializes in the salvage and reuse (green demolition) of houses, outbuildings, and commercial interiors,” according to deconstructionworks.com.
Learey acknowledged that the aspirational timeline is a little tight right now.
“We’re pushing it a little bit,” she said, as her group is starting to reach out to potential interested donors and lenders. “I think it’s time to do the heavy push.”
The first phase is estimated to cost $9.5 million. Learey suggested the project could occur through borrowing about half of the money through conventional debt then raising the rest through investment or donations. That “feels manageable,” she said, noting past support for the project has been strong.
Ultimately, the goal is to develop about 300 units on the campus. Marty Cohn, public relations consultant, said he believes more support will stem from seeing the structure come up and out of the ground.
“I think success breeds success,” he said, “then it’s a real project.”
A website devoted to the project, village.winstonprouty.org, is regularly being updated. Information is shared for potential partners, donors and community members.
A pitch deck is being created to share market studies, financials and renderings with lenders and investors on the site.
Learey said her group needs “people to keep stepping up to help” make the project happen.
“If we let money get in the way,” she said, “we’re not putting our money where our mouth is in the housing crisis.”
Learey cited the 2021 housing study in Brattleboro that says the town needs an additional 500 housing units. Progress has been made since then, she said, with the town issuing more permits, but not at the rate that is needed.
Learey sees the first phase as a way to show that the Prouty Center can make the larger project happen.
“That’s the pressure I’m feeling,” she said. “I know we can do it. We need help from the community.”
Learey described the first phase as “a big bright spot I want to offer to our community so we have something to invest in together” that will make the community “more resilient and stronger.”
With the project getting more grants and donations as it’s discussed publicly over the last four or five years, Cohn said, “an idea is becoming a reality and people are stepping up to support that.”
For pre-development costs, about $400,000 came in through the Strolling of the Heifers, Crosby-Gannet Fund and individual donations. Grants from the town of Brattleboro, Thomas Thompson Trust and Windham Regional Commission totaled nearly $200,000. The Prouty center invested about $400,000 for campus master planning, feasibility studies, project management and construction planning.
Another $500,000 can get a foundation and road in, Learey said.