New LCHIP Grants to Help Save Special Places and Catalyze Community Development
With a new grant from the Land & Community Heritage Investment Program (LCHIP), the N.H. Preservation Alliance has funding to continue its program of historic building assessment grants through 2021.
The LCHIP Board of Directors announced the grant award at its 2021 matching grants call via Zoom on November 19th. It was one of 21 new LCHIP grants to historic preservation projects, including three properties listed on the Preservation Alliance’s Seven to Save. Nearly all of the grant recipients have been helped by the Alliance’s services, including funds for building assessments. “The Preservation Alliance is proud to have been part of the project development process for many of the new LCHIP grant recipients, and extends an invitation to new projects that are seeking funding and guidance for getting started and moving forward,” said Jennifer Goodman, executive director of the N.H. Preservation Alliance.
The Willing Workers Hall in Warren. One of our Seven to Save listees.
According to LCHIP staff, this year there were more preservation projects than usual for North Country communities (Pittsburg, Stratford and Berlin). They also noted the number of very small towns (Pittsburg, Stratford, Wentworth, Warren, Effingham, and Grafton) that received grants to tackle important projects, and that several projects are directly or indirectly associated with addressing housing needs. Four nonprofits will use their LCHIP grant monies for studies of landmark historic resources: Lakes Region Community Developers (Gale School, Belmont), Canterbury Shaker Village, Portsmouth’s North Church, and the Town of Tilton (Tilton Island Bridge).
“In these uncertain times, this news is a great boost for communities across the state,” said Jennifer Goodman, executive director of the Preservation Alliance. “LCHIP grants are matching investments that revive historic landmarks, help protect our sense of community and drive new economic activity.”
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. An American Express survey of millennials emphasized the generation’s interest in living and working in places that feature a mix of old and new architecture and community gathering places. In addition, studies show that heritage visitors stay longer and spend more than other types of visitors.
The Alliance will use its $60,000 award to make up to 15 grants to non-profits and municipalities for historic building assessments. Building assessments are useful tools for groups starting their preservation project or advancing to a new phase. The process brings preservation professionals, architects and engineers together to inspect and document a structure’s construction, evolution, and condition, and make recommendations for repair and reuse, along with cost estimates. The Alliance’s building assessment program has helped property owners and advocates create “road maps” for nearly 80 community landmarks in over 60 towns and cities to date.
The Tilton Island Bridge; another Seven to Save listee.
The three recipients this year that were listed to Seven to Save are the Gale School in Belmont, Tilton Island Bridge, and the Willing Workers Hall in Warren. On the natural resource side, family farms (Seven to Save, 2014) in Northumberland and Warner will be conserved thanks to LCHIP funding that for easements secured by land conservation groups.
All of the properties that utilized Seven to Save and planning grant aid also received technical assistance and coaching from the Alliance. That list includes: The Tilton School’s Tilton Mansion, Southeast Land Trust’s John Prescott Chase Farmhouse in Epping, South Church in Portsmouth, and Kimball House and Mill in Grafton.
LCHIP’s $4.1 million in matching historic preservation and land conservation grants was awarded to 32 projects across the state. LCHIP funds will support projects in nine of the state’s ten counties. This grant round was highly competitive, with nearly $8 million in funding requests compared to $4.1 million available for grants. LCHIP Board of Directors Chair and former Preservation Alliance board member Amanda Merrill of Durham observed that, “With the large number and high quality of applications that where submitted this year, the board had the satisfaction of awarding grants to a variety of wonderful projects-- and the regret of being unable to support many others. It is clear to me that the work of LCHIP is more important than ever.”
Grant recipients are required to raise a minimum of one dollar for each dollar provided by LCHIP. This year’s awards of $4.1 million will be matched by nearly $18 million that the project proponents will raise from other public and private sources, infusing a total of over $22 million into the state’s economy in direct project activity.
The Effingham Library, Town Hall and Masonic Hall (photo: Steve Booth, 2019)
The New Hampshire Preservation Alliance strengthens communities and stimulates local economies by encouraging the protection and revival of historic buildings and places. The organization worked with legislators, business leaders and conservation colleagues to create the LCHIP program, and continues to advocate for sustaining LCHIP’s effective investments.
The New Hampshire Land and Community Heritage Investment Program is an independent state authority created by the legislature in 2000. LCHIP’s legislative mandate is to ensure the perpetual contribution of natural, cultural and historic resources to the economy, environment, and quality of life in New Hampshire. LCHIP does this by providing matching grants to New Hampshire communities and non-profits to conserve and preserve the state’s most important natural, cultural and historic resources. The program has provided 499 grants which have helped to conserve approximately 294,000 acres of land for food production, water quality, ecological values, timber management and recreation and supported 301 projects to rehabilitate 286 historic structures and sites. Grants have been awarded in all parts of the state and in 176 of New Hampshire’s 234 communities. Fifty million dollars of state money have led to a total project value of more than $289 million. The money for LCHIP grants comes from fees on four documents recorded at the Registry of Deeds in every county of the state.
The N.H. Preservation Alliance’s building assessment program has helped property owners and advocates of nearly 80 community landmarks in over 60 towns and cities to date.
Littleton Littleton Public Library
Mason Town Hall
Meredith Meredith Public Library
Middleton Old Town Hall
Mont Vernon Mont Vernon Town Hall
Moultonborough Moultonborough Grange French-Taylor House Castle in the Clouds
Nashua First Church
Nelson Town Hall and Old School House
Newbury The Fells, Historic Main Porch The Fells Lakeside Cottage
Newmarket Newmarket Community Church
Newport Opera House
North Hampton Centennial Hall
Plymouth The Old Webster Courthouse
Portsmouth The Players' Ring Theater Portsmouth Women's City Club
Rollinsford Rollinsford Grade School
Rye St. Andrews by-the-Sea
Somersworth Furber Memorial Chapel
South Hampton S. H. Baptist Church
South Sutton Meeting House & School House
Stoddard Stoddard Congregational Church
Stratford Miriam Blogett Museum Stratford Grange Hall
Sullivan United Congregational Church of Sullivan
Swanzey Whitcomb Hall Mt. Caesar Union Library Golden Rod Grange Hall
Tamworth Hall-Dyer House
Wakefield Union Hotel
Warner Pillsbury Free Library
Weare Clinton Grove Academy Building
Wentworth Wentworth Congregational Church Old Town Hall
Westmoreland Town Hall
Wilmot Town Hall & Library
Winchester Winchester Center Church
Windham Searles School & Chapel Town Hall
Acworth Methodist Church/Grange Hall
Alexandria Town Hall
Amherst Congregational Church of Amherst
Andover Grange Hall
Antrim Antrim Grange
Bartlett St. Joseph Catholic Church
Bennington Bennington Railroad Station
Berlin Berlin Public Library
Canaan Canaan Historical Museum/ Canaan Union Academy Building
Candia Smyth Memorial Building
Center Harbor Center Harbor Town House Center Harbor Village Schoolhouse James E. Nichols Memorial Library
Charlestown Former Connecticut River Bank building
Chester Chester Congregational Church
Cornish Cornish Meetinghouse
Dover First Parish Church
Dunbarton Town Hall
East Derry Upper Village Hall
Effingham Town Hall
Farmington First Congregational Church
Fitzwilliam Amos J. Blake House
Franconia Iron Furnace
Gilmanton First Baptist Church
Gilmanton Old Town Hall
Goshen Goshen Grange Building
Grafton Grafton Center Meetinghouse
Haverhill Col. Brown House Haverhill Library
Hebron Hebron Academy Building
Henniker Tucker Free Library
Hooksett Hooksett Town Hall
Keene Cheshire County Court House Wyman Tavern
Lancaster Wilder-Holton House Parker Noyes Building
Lee Town Hall Parish House
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