In its third round of discussions about the upcoming October Town Meeting warrant articles, the Board of Selectmen Tuesday voted favorably for one which, if ultimately approved by Town Meeting, would restore the exterior of Main Street's Webster Hall to its original design.

"Our task has been to redesign the exterior, to bring it back to its historic quality," said Anthi Frangiadis, architect for the building's owners.

The Selectmen and Finance Committee separately vote on all Town Meeting warrant articles, recommending to voters that either "favorable action" or "no action" be taken, or that the article be studied further.

Located at 207 Main St. and built in 1859, Webster Hall's owners are looking for $100,000 in Community Preservation funding to help with the rehab. A historic preservation restriction would then be placed on the property, which would require the current and future owners to keep the exterior historically accurate. The building would also be added to the National Registry of Historic Places (www.nps.gov/nr).

The grant money would be matched by private funds to complete the restoration. "There's quite a bit of work to be done beyond that [matching $100,000], as well," Frangiadis added, specifying that changes to the interior of the building would be funded by the owners.

Among the changes to the exterior of the building, the brick portion of the storefront would be removed and replaced with wood and awnings, and windows that were removed from the second floor by a previous owner would be added again.

Community Preservation Committee chair Nancy Miller appeared before the Selectmen with Frangiadis, after the board expressed concern at a previous meeting that the preservation money would be used to subsidize private development.

Those concerns remained for Selectman Brenda Eckstrom on Tuesday. "I don't see that [the owners have] done any favors" for the building, she said. "I don't see why they expect the town to bail them out."

Frangiadis disagreed. "This particular property owner has resisted further inappropriate changes," she said. "It's not as simple as saying that this property owner is being bailed out. I don't think that that's the case."

Miller argued that the changes would benefit Main Street and the community as a whole.

"We consider this an investment in our community, even though this is a privately owned property," Miller said, adding that the owners are "jumping through all kinds of hoops" to meet necessary requirements for preserving the building.

Selectmen Chair Jane Donahue said she understood the concerns, but was in favor of the project, saying that the project would benefit Main Street, "the landscape of our town and the ambiance."

The Selectmen ultimately recommended "favorable action" on the article, voting 3-1-0, with Eckstrom dissenting. Selectman Steve Holmes was absent from the meeting, as he was away on business, Donahue said.

If approved for the Community Preservation funding at Town Meeting, Frangiadis said construction would likely begin in December. Residents interested in touring the building and learning more about the proposal can attend an open house at Webster Hall, hosted by Frangiadis and the building's owners, on Saturday, October 23, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.