LCHIP Grants 2024
LCHIP has announced its most recent grant round, and the preservation grant recipients include four 18th century meetinghouses, a summer chapel on a Winnipesaukee island, a library in a town under 1,000, and several seacoast historic house museums.
The Hebron Library
Every year, the Preservation Alliance assists various applicants position themselves for LCHIP awards. Between planning assessment grants, coaching, and Seven to Save designation, our field service program often dovetails with potential LCHIP projects. The matching grants between $10,000 and $500,000 have infused millions of dollars into New Hampshire communities since its first grant round in 2001.
This year, that list includes two Seven to Save listees. The Mont Vernon Town Hall (2020) will receive $182,933 for continued rehabilitation of its 1781 meetinghouse, specifically structural repairs to the undercarriage, moisture management, and new mechanical systems. The town hall had received two planning grants from the Alliance. The Jackson Town Hall (2024) will be relocated to safer ground thanks to a $225,000 grant.
Several Preservation Alliance-funded planning studies helped recipients unlock LCHIP funds, too. In Hebron, the library trustees will move forward with a long-anticipated expansion of their library into an adjacent memorial chapel. The $100,000 award will rehabilitate both structures, with additional town funding and private donations being used to construct the new accessible connector. The Westmoreland Historical Society will use $22,933 to repair plaster ceilings and install new electrical wiring at the Park Hill Meetinghouse. And the American Independence Museum will leverage a $170,590 award to improve the exterior envelope of the Ladd-Gilman House, including window restoration, exterior painting, foundation repointing, and new storm windows.
St. Johns-on-the-Lake, Meredith
Two churches will also receive funding after planning studies identifying urgent needs. In Claremont, the Trinity Episcopal Church will use $10,000 toward repointing and/or rebuilding chimneys and further studying their unique Stick Style building with an engineering study and paint analysis. St. Johns-on-the-Lake in Meredith will use a $79,823 award to replace cedar shingles and improve drainage. The summer island chapel offers boat rides for those attending Sunday service.
Other Preservation Alliance coaching helped projects in Canaan, where the 1790s meetinghouse will receive bell tower work and window restoration, thanks to a $74,000 grant. The Atkinson Historical Society, thanks to a grant of $54,725, will continue restoration efforts at the Center School, a project that has been guided by a “mini” building assessment compiled by the Alliance. And in Danville, the 1750s Hawke Meetinghouse will get carpentry repairs and a new paint job with a $54,519 grant.
Other LCHIP recipients include the Hampstead Congregational Church, Bartlett Union Congregational Church, and the Moffatt-Ladd House and Wentworth-Gardner House, both in Portsmouth.
"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 Center School, Atkinson
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.
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.
Since 2000, LCHIP has invested $65 million in 200 New Hampshire 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