After a year of design and renovations, MAxT Makerspace will open the doors to the public for a grand opening at its new space at the Noone Falls Mill Saturday, Jan. 18, from 2 to 5 p.m. 

The event will include a ribbon-cutting ceremony, tours, and demonstrations by artists and instructors. 

“This is the time people should come check us out. We will have discounts on memberships and classes and will be announcing our new winter class schedule,” said Makerspace director Roy Schlieben. “We’re super-excited for people to see our new space.” 

The Makerspace’s new home will offer new and expanded programming, including a dedicated welding and metalwork space, a glassworking area, an expanded jewelry shop and an expanded woodworking shop with a dedicated space for lathes and wood-turning. Other areas include 3D printing, digital fabrication, electronics and fiber arts.

The Makerspace has been in two spaces prior to the move to the lower level of the historic Noone Falls Mill, which was purchased by local energy entrepreneur Steve Walker in 2022 and completely rehabilitated. 

“There was a river running through this space when Steve bought the building. It was like a dungeon down here,” Schlieben said. “I wasn’t entirely convinced when I first saw the space, but Steve had the vision and he totally transformed it.” 

Walker raised the floor of the basement to reduce flooding risk, waterproofed the space, restored the historic hydro turbines, replaced the wall of windows overlooking the Contoocook and installed heat pumps to heat and cool the building.

Schlieben credits Walker for his long support of the Makerspace.

“It just worked out that our lease was up and we were looking for a new space right around the time Steve was renovating the mill,” Schlieben said. “He’s been involved since the beginning, and he got really excited about the prospect of us moving in here. This mill was designed for making things.” 

Schlieben says Walker has created a beautiful and highly functional new home for Makerspace.

“The work he has put into this building has been tremendous. He put in all new windows, and we have a clean bright floor space,” Schlieben said. 

The center also has spaces artists and makers can rent out by the month. 

At the entrance at the north end of the building, Schlieben pointed out heavy wooden doors, which Walker built himself from a tree that had fallen on his property.

“Most people would just buy a door,” Schlieben said. “Steve actually made these doors himself, from one of his own trees.” 

The Makerspace can be reached through the back entrance to Noone Falls, and the parking lot and entry ramp spanning the Contoocook River are fully accessible. Visitors should enter the parking lot through the driveway at the southern end of the building, which circles around the back.

The Makerspace cannot be accessed through the businesses on the first floor or from the side of the building facing Route 202. 

“This move has been a lot easier then our last one because we have experience now, and we know a lot more what we need,” Schlieben said. “We were able to design around the demand and what our students are interested in. We had so many people ask about welding. Wood-turning was something we had not anticipated would be as popular as it is, so we have a whole section for that now. Woodworking is very popular; our new wood shop space is 1 1/2 times bigger than in our previous space.”

Schlieben and his team spent months working out the design of the new space, which has roughly the same square footage as the previous space at Vose Farm Road, but with a different configuration. 

“We created a blueprint and had little cutouts of all the machines, the furniture, the walls, everything and we just worked it all out, where it would make the most sense for everything to go,” Schlieben said. “We learned a lot from setting up the ceramic center, and we have been able to really think this out and use community input and feedback in the process.” 

The new enclosed welding space includes flexible tube ventilators to remove smoke and fumes. A mural on the wall, spelling out MAxT in floor-to-ceiling letters,  was created by students from Avenue A Teen Center who take part in regular classes.

Schlieben, a Peterborough native and ConVal graduate, is a former Peace Corps volunteer. He and his family spent five years in Thailand, and when they returned to Peterborough, Schlieben began to think about “what the community needed.” After putting together a founding board, which included community leaders Jean Dietsch, James Kelly and Tyler Ward, and intensive fundraising, the Makerspace became reality.

“Trying to make the community better, and helping people realize their dreams. That’s what I do," Schlieben said. 

For information about MAxT Makerspace, go to maxtmakerspace.org.