Two local organizations, both dedicated to serving the Andover-area community in a variety of ways, have begun steps to merge operations in order to improve effectiveness, efficiency and outreach. eries of meetings beginning in mid-summer, representatives of the Andover Community Association (ACA) and The Andover Hub have compared their similarities and differences, shared their goals and means to achieve them, and considered a variety of ways that a combined organization could be governed and funded to better serve the local community. r conclusion: gle non-profit organization, with its headquarters based in The Andover Hub building (Andover’s old town hall at 157 Main Street) and its direction shaped by a broad spectrum of local volunteers, provides the best roadmap for the foreseeable future. Representatives of both organizations agreed that the name — The Andover Hub — reflects the mission of both groups and have further agreed that it will continue to be the name of the newly merged organization going forward.

Though the new organization has not adopted a merged mission statement, its general purpose is suggested by the wording of its now-separate statements:

The Andover Community Association: “The purpose of the Association shall be to help nurture and enhance a more vibrant, resilient, and sustainable local community and encourage a sense of belonging and personal investment in Andover and its surroundings.”

The Andover Hub:  “Our mission is to serve the community by reviving this historic old Town Hall as a place for people of all ages to gather for social, educational, cultural, recreational and economic activities.”

The Hub’s current owners, who purchased the building in a foreclosure auction in late 2016, will donate the building to the new organization soon after it attains non-profit status.  The ACA, which was formed in late 2015, will supply that non-profit status, making the new organization a federally designated 501(c)(3) non-profit. That designation will allow supporters of the new organization to deduct their donations from their federal income-tax returns.

Among the first orders of business for the combined organization are these:

• to host a community party in the new year to celebrate this new collaboration and also to gather input from local residents about how best to serve the community;
• to bring together a governing body or steering committee representing a wide variety of local interests, skills and concerns;
• to identify sources of funding for capital projects, operating funds, staffing needs and programming opportunities.

A bit of history:

To date, the ACA has served as the umbrella organization for three subgroups:  The Andover Community Coffeehouse, which is now wrapping up its fourth year of highly successful monthly concerts, held in the Highland Lake Grange Hall in East Andover;  the Andover Institute, which has offered about two dozen events (many of them billed as “space explorations”) to introduce area residents to activities and surroundings that they would otherwise not experience;  and the ACA Communications Group, which published the 88-page “Andover Business & Resource Directory” in 2016.

Since its purchase in November 2016, The Andover Hub has hosted a wide variety of programs, workshops and other events, varying widely from yoga to zumba, cribbage to karate, a twice-weekly drop-in Coffee Hour and several ongoing craft groups;  also, programs aimed at retired area residents, a meeting place for a variety of community organizations, rental space for small private events such as birthday parties and baby showers, space for local businesses to meet with clients, and social events like Paint & Sip.  Most recently, The Hub served as a gallery for the Andover Historical Society’s retrospective exhibit of the sculpture and paintings of two well-known artists long associated with Andover. (See separate article in this issue.)

Current members of the ACA Board of Directors who have been involved in the merger discussions are Paul Currier, Jay Fitzpatrick, and Grace Schust.  Hub owners are Deb Brower, Susan and Larry Chase, Pat Cutter, Gisela and Steve Darling, and Stacey and Eric Viandier.