Preservation Alliance Salutes This Year's LCHIP Grant Winners

Positive Planning Steps Lead to Successful Historic Preservation Projects

A dozen significant historic preservation projects will be moving forward with needed rehabilitation and restoration work thanks to grants from the New Hampshire Land & Community Heritage Investment Program (LCHIP). The LCHIP Board of Directors announced the awards on December 11, 2023.

The N.H. Preservation Alliance, the statewide non-profit historic preservation organization, was pleased to help most of the successful non-profit and municipal groups. Eight rehabilitation and restoration projects received Preservation Alliance planning grants to prepare building assessments and several others received advice and technical assistance from Preservation Alliance staff.

Mason’s 1848 town hall is one of the LCHIP recipients assisted by the Alliance. A 2018 site visit resulted in assistance listing the building to the State Register of Historic Places, a planning grant to assess the building’s conditions, and additional timber framing analysis. Likewise, in Manchester, the Brookside Congregational Church benefited from assistance listing its ten-acre complex to the State Register and received a matching grant for an historic building assessment.

Another successful applicant, Plainfield Town Hall and its Maxfield Parrish stage set, were listed on the Preservation Alliance’s 2023 Seven to Save list. LCHIP funds will help continue foundation and drainage work aimed at mitigating moisture problems affecting the historic scenic curtains.

The Manning House at the Brookside Congregational Church

“The Preservation Alliance is a proud partner of many of these important projects,” said Andrew Cushing of the Alliance. “Our accessible field service is designed to make opportunities like an LCHIP grant possible. We hope to continue our relationship with these communities through the completion of the project.”

The Alliance’s planning grant program, supported by LCHIP and other donors, has helped property owners and advocates create “road maps” for more than 100 community landmarks. For more information about a project’s eligibility for this grant program or other assistance, please contact Andrew Cushing at the N.H. Preservation Alliance, (603) 224-2281.

LCHIP grant recipients are required to match each dollar contributed by LCHIP with a minimum of one additional dollar, and to complete the funded projects according to the program’s rigorous standards. $3.7 million in grants will be matched by $9.3 million in private and public sources. A list of previously completed LCHIP-funded projects can be found at www.LCHIP.org.

Historic preservation activity supports jobs, enhances the tax base, and helps spur additional investment. Because of the labor-intensive nature of rehabilitation, more money circulates in local economies than it does with new construction.

The Maxfield Parrish Stage Set at the Plainfield Town Hall

About New Hampshire’s Land and Community Heritage Investment Program

The New Hampshire Land and Community Heritage Investment Program (LCHIP) is an independent state authority created by the legislature in 2000 to ensure the perpetual contribution of natural, cultural and historic resources to the economy, environment, and quality of life in New Hampshire. Since 2000, LCHIP has provided 589 matching grants to municipalities and non-profit organizations, investing over $61 million to help partners conserve more than 241,000 acres of land and rehabilitate 172 historic buildings. Grants have been awarded in all parts of the state and in 200 of New Hampshire’s 234 communities. The money for LCHIP grants comes from a surcharge assessed when recording documents at county Registries of Deeds. For more information about LCHIP, visit LCHIP.org or call (603) 224-4113