The proposal passed by a vote count of 116 to 83, town Supervisor Art Willman said Wednesday.

“The turnout was not exactly what I would have liked,” he added. “I would have liked to see three or four hundred people.”

Town officials have proposed building a two-story, 2,800-square-foot structure into a hill between the two baseball fields in the park, located on state Route 3 in Vermontville. It would include a large room for events and meetings, a kitchen, storage space, a vestibule with restrooms that would be open to the public year round, and a wrap-around covered deck.

Willman has said the building would provide much-needed space for community events, the town’s recreation program and groups like the 55-Plus Club, Cornell Cooperative Extension and the Boy Scouts, which currently meet in the town hall down the road. The community center could also be rented out for wedding receptions and parties, he said. It would have capacity for 100 people, double that of the town hall.

The town of Franklin plans to build a community center in Kate Mountain Park in Vermontville, seen June 27. (Enterprise photo — Chris Knight)

The idea of building a community center in the park has been kicked around for years in the small town, which had a year-round population of 1,140 at the time of the 2010 census.