Northern Forest Center Purchases Gehring House

with Amy Scott

The staunch local effort to restore many of the significant properties within the Broad Street Historic District of Bethel gained crucial momentum with The Northern Forest Center’s purchase of the Gehring Clinic on December 15th. The historic building, which sits on 10 acres at the southern end of Broad Street, will be completely renovated for use as middle-income apartments. The Center plans to restore the historic integrity of the building, creating up to 10 quality 1-2 bedroom rental units in the house itself, with plans to further expand local housing opportunities by building new homes on a portion of the adjacent acreage.

“The Gehring mansion, constructed in 1896 is one of the most architecturally and historically significant buildings in Bethel,” said William F. Chapman, executive director of Museums of the Bethel Historical Society.

“The house served as both the home of Dr. John George and Mrs. Marion True Gehring and the clinic where Dr. Gehring would treat patients from all over the United States. After years of watching and wondering what would happen to the property, we could not be more excited to know that it will be preserved and continue to serve in a community function.”

The Center and property owner Paul Boghossian reached an agreement in early December enabling both parties to achieve their goals. Besides adding substantially to the acreage of the site during his ownership, Boghossian was also able to secure vital historic tax credit approvals for the project.

“We are thrilled to acquire this important building in downtown Bethel and add housing development to the many community revitalization programs we have going with partners in Bethel and the Maine West area,” said Rob Riley, president of the Northern Forest Center. “The historic tax credits Paul secured will be an invaluable tool to restore the historic house to its former glory and reposition it as vital housing for the community.”

The Northern Forest Center is a nonprofit organization with a successful record of property redevelopment in both Millinocket, ME and Lancaster, NH. The Gehring redevelopment initiative complements the Center’s ongoing work in the region, including projects that improve recreation access and resources, assist wood products and tourismrelated businesses, advance sustainable tourism, create Community Forests, expand broadband service and build area non-profit capacity. Their goal is to create vibrant communities across the varied economies of the Northern Forest region of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and New York to attract and retain young people and families in these rural areas.

“Our aim is to create middle-market housing that will be attractive and financially within reach for young people and families who contribute to the community through their work as teachers, health care providers, entrepreneurs, hospitality professionals and other roles,” said Amy Scott, the Center’s program manager, who will oversee the Gehring redevelopment project alongside her work managing the Maine West collaborative.

The Center is using capital from its Northern Forest Fund – which integrates impact investment dollars, private capital, philanthropic donations and grants from public sources – to bankroll the purchase and initial redevelopment expenses for the Gehring House project. The Center has previously rehabilitated two major properties: the $3.5-million redevelopment of the Parker J. Noyes building in Lancaster, which created commercial space in addition to 6 middlemarket apartments; and the Millinocket Housing Initiative which invested more than $1 million to renovate six homes, creating 12 quality rental units from properties that had been severely neglected. v