N.H. Preservation Alliance Invests in Thirteen Community Landmarks Thanks to Partnership with 1772 Foundation
The New Hampshire Preservation Alliance has awarded grants to thirteen historic preservation projects throughout the state, amounting to $100,000 in new investment to save and steward iconic local structures. Jennifer Goodman, executive director of the Preservation Alliance, said “We are so pleased to be able to make these grants to important community landmark projects in many regions of the state. Our members and friends are telling us that these special places offer feelings of comfort and stability in these uncertain times. These investments also support jobs and help local economies.” This new program is thanks to a partnership with The 1772 Foundation.
In the central part of the state, grants will go to help preserve and rehabilitate the Gale School in Belmont (above), and Kimball Jenkins in Concord.
Further north, The Grafton Meetinghouse (pictured here), owned by Mascoma Valley Preservation, and the Wentworth Brown House owned by Haverhill Heritage will benefit from grants. In Coos County, an award has been made to the Marion Blodget Museum of the Coos Historical Society in Stratford Hollow.
In the Seacoast, funds will assist Centennial Hall in North Hampton, the Moffatt-Ladd House and Garden in Portsmouth (above), and Star Island Corporation at the Isles of Shoals, Rye.
In the Lakes Region and White Mountains, the Belknap Mill in Laconia, Lord’s Hill Meeting House in Effingham and the Tamworth History Center in Tamworth (pictured above) will receive funding.
In the western part of the state, funds have been awarded to the Mt Caesar Union Library in Swanzey, and the Richards Free Library in Newport. (pictured here).
Goodman noted that community activity and vibrancy as well as stewardship of irreplaceable assets are important themes of these projects.
Grant criteria included the uniqueness or significance of the resource, visibility within the community, availability of additional funding, strength of local support, imminence or severity of threat to the resource, potential for creating beneficial economic activity, and the proposed plan’s adherence to the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties.
The New Hampshire Preservation Alliance strengthens communities and stimulates local economies by encouraging the protection and revival of historic buildings and places.
These grants were made possible by The 1772 Foundation, which partnered with the six New England statewide historic preservation organizations to provide funding and administer seventy-nine grants totaling $600,000.
The 1772 Foundation’s Board president, B. Danforth Ely, said "This is the first year that we have opened our small grants program to all six New England states, and the expansion has been enthusiastically received. We have been fortunate to work with six fantastic statewide organizations whose local community knowledge has proven invaluable. The vast response to this grant has also shown to the Foundation how necessary these brick-and-mortar grants are to keeping our historic structures standing." The late Stewart B. Kean was the sole benefactor to The 1772 Foundation which works to ensure the safe passage of our historic buildings and farmland to future generations. More information about The 1772 Foundation may be found at www.1772foundation.org.