The Warren Community Center, formerly known as Town Hall, built between 1949 and 1950, is a testament to the cooperative and independent spirit of the people of Warren. Emerging from the Great Depression and in the middle of World War II, the citizens of Warren were convinced that Warren was “destined to grow” and began planning for a new town hall.
By 1940 the Town of Warren owned only two small parcels of land, one occupied by the old town hall at 8 Sackett Hill Rd. and the other occupied by Center School. A committee consisting of three citizens approached landowner John Adlehurst to purchase the land on the east side of Sackett Hill Rd. and on November 15, 1944 the sale was concluded.
The following June, members of various community organizations and town officials voted to hold a supper and dance to raise money for a new town hall. The event raised $270 and the Town agreed to create a building fund with $2000 added each year until construction could begin.
Construction was fraught with difficulties: two town meetings resulted in the budget swelling from the original $75,000 to $87,500; the architect submitted plans that repeatedly doubled or tripled the budget; the well contained too much iron for safe use; and finally, no money remained to furnish the new building. The building was completed in 1950, and the bond that the Town approved on October 17, 1949 was fully paid by 1970.
By 2004 the Town of Warren had outgrown its third town hall. The population had tripled since 1949 and more space was needed for new departments. When the citizens of Warren agreed to construct a new town hall on Cemetery Rd. in 2007, plans to renovate the 7 Sackett Hill building began. In 2011 Warren received a STEAP (Small Town Economic Assistance Program) grant to renovate the old town hall into a Community/Senior Center. By the following year, the building reopened its doors and now provides space for the senior center, museum space for the Warren Historical Society, space for Warren Parks and Recreation activities and community meeting rooms. It is also hosts the Warren Volunteer Fire Department’s pancake breakfasts.