Wolfeboro Selectboard considers razing Libby Museum; residents say no

WOLFEBORO — Wolfeboro selectmen voted Dec. 30, to hold public hearings on tearing down the Libby Museum of Natural History, which closed in 2024, due to mold and structural deterioration.

Meanwhile, residents urged them to save the building and were organizing a petition, requiring 50 signatures, to put the decision in the hands of voters.

The vote was apparently unanimous. Selectmen said “aye” in near unison. John Thurston, Linda Murray, Brian Deshaies raised their hands to clearly signal their support for holding the hearings. David Senecal and Paul O’Brien didn’t raise their hands.

About 40 people attended the meeting.

As of Monday, dates for the public hearings had not been set.

Suzanne Ryan, chair of the Friends of Libby Museum but speaking as a resident, said she was gathering signatures for a petition, which would let voters decide about the demolition at the 2026 town meeting in March. On Monday, she was still gathering signatures.

“You do not have under RSA 41:14 authority to do this,” she told selectmen, referring to a state law that concerns sales of town buildings. “And just in case you think you do, I’m well on the way to 50 names to force it to the ballot.”

Many of the residents at the meeting urged the selectmen to pay careful attention to the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Charitable Trust Unit, which oversees such matters.

The Libby Museum, which opened in 1912, is the state’s oldest natural history museum and was a legacy of Dr. Henry Libby. In the 1950s, Libby’s relatives asked the town to take over as trustees. The building, which sits on prime property on the shores of Lake Winnipesaukee, was shut down in 2024 due to mold, structural deterioration and deferred maintenance. The Friends have held that their sole overview is the programming at the building, not maintaining its structural integrity.

On Nov. 5, selectmen received a letter from the N.H. Charitable Trusts director saying she would “seek court intervention” if the board and the Friends did not come up with a plan for the building.

Consequently, the selectmen voted to “notify the Friends of the Libby Museum that the board has voted to immediately part with the collection contents.” They rescinded that vote on Nov. 19.

On Dec. 30, selectmen discussed beginning the “cy pres” process for demolishing the building.

So-called “cy pres” awards are designated when there are residual funds in class action lawsuits, probate matters and other court cases that cannot be distributed to the class members or beneficiaries for a variety of reasons.

“[The Dec. 30 meeting] is for us to decide whether we want to move forward with the public hearings in reference to the Libby museum,” said Senecal, clarifying the purpose of the discussion and adding detailed information about the condition of the building would be presented at these hearings.

Town Manager James S. Pineo followed up by saying that the soonest the building could be razed would be in 2027. He said if selectmen decide to move forward with the hearings, the Attorney General’s Charitable Trust Unit would be notified, selectmen would hold two public hearings and the conservation commission and planning board and the Heritage Commission would be involved as well.

“As alluded to this evening by people, if we receive a kind of petition from 50 petitioners, the question is then taken away from the board of selectmen ... and thrust to the voters,” he said.

“If the board makes the decision to go forward and raze the Libby Musem, obviously, there’s going to be funds associated with that that we’re going to have to go in front of the voters in 2027,” Pineo said.

Resident Catherine Dragonfly urged people to sign the petition.

“This museum belongs to everybody in this room, and every one of your children and grandchildren. It came down through our ancestors,” said Dragonfly. “It does not belong to three board of selectmen people who could vote in the majority, it would come down to three people who make that decision.”

A number of residents criticized selectmen for letting the building deteriorate to its current condition.

“So what is it that caused this to fall in such disrepair? I’ve been on the board,” said resident Dwight Devork. “I know what you have, what you’re up against, but we have to budget for maintenance on every building that the town owns.”

Devork said the building should be sold, not razed.

“That majestic building is really part of Wolfeboro and for those of us who have lived our lives, it’s a key building for the whole town,” said Devork.

Devork and other residents questioned what would happen to the collection and the land.

Selectmen replied that the board had backed efforts to fund museum repairs that voters rejected.

Selectman Murray said that in 2022 the selectmen backed an article for $4 million to support the Libby Museum, with $2.2 million coming from the Friends of the Libby Museum.

The article failed by 49 votes.

In 2025, voters rejected an article to spend $350,000 on maintenance.

Selectman Deshaies said selectmen can only spend money as voters allow.

“We can’t spend money on anything you don’t tell us to do,” said Deshaies.

Longtime Libby supporter Tom Goodwin summarized the situation by saying: “The town has said they would like to get out of the museum business, but they cannot relinquish trusteeship until a qualified trustee, well funded and with operational experience can come forward, and we’re kind of in a chicken and egg situation here.”

“We know that there’s a lot of donors out there. We’ve had $2.2 million of support before, but these donors are saying, ‘talk to us when the town’s out in the picture and you guys can’t get out of the picture until there’s someone else to take over,’” Goodwin said.