Two projects in the Concord area will receive financial aid from the state’s Land and Community Heritage Investment Program (LCHIP) program as part of $4.7 million in matching grants for 40 historic preservation and land conservation around the state.
The Congregational-Christian Church of Franklin has received a $35,000 grant award to support the restoration of the steeple.
“With over 100 years of weathering since the steeple was rebuilt after the fire of 1902, it is time for extensive repairs to the steeple and installation of lightning protection to ensure the future of the building,” said Glenn Morrill, Chairman of the Trustees for the church.
The building was built in 1820 as a meetinghouse. It was organized as the Village Church in 1822, then as the Congregational Church and since 1964, the Congregational-Christian Church. It is the oldest church in Franklin.
Daniel Webster rented pew No. 23. A belfry window is dedicated to him and a bust of Webster, sculpted by Daniel Chester French, is in the front of the church. A Revere bell was brought from Boston by oxen when the steeple was added in 1838; it is still in use today.
In Wilmot, a $305,303 grant award will support the renovation of Wilmot Town Hall, a former Grange building whose floor structure has been damaged by recurrent flooding of Kimpton Brook.
“The LCHIP award will enable the town to protect the building from future flood damage, which may become more likely as regional climate continues to change,” said Jeff Gill, chair of the Wilmot Facilities Committee, a group appointed by the Wilmot Select Board to make financial recommendations for town-owned properties.
The Wilmot Town Hall has experienced many floods since it was built in 1911, with Kimpton Brook waters reaching the building’s floor joists causing rotting of the floor support system. In 1938 flood waters rose above the finish floor level.
A vote at the 2021 town meeting authorized the facilities committee to apply to LCHIP for a grant to raise the building 2.02 feet, which exceeds the 500-year flood level and matches the adjoining library elevation. With this grant in hand, the Town residents will vote on the final scope and authorize the release of funds from the Buildings and Facilities Capital Reserve Fund at the 2022 March town business meeting.
In Belmont, $369,000 was granted to help redevelopment of the 1894 Gale School, a building that was moved to a new location in 2020 with assistance from an earlier LCHIP grant.
This year’s LCHIP funds support projects in all 10 of the state’s counties. The natural resource projects awarded funding in this grant round include land to help meet the increased interest in outdoor recreation activities, farmland to supply local food for local people, land with scenic and environmental values and working forests.
The historic resource grants include projects as straightforward as new roofing to as complex as near-total rehabilitation of elaborate buildings. The oldest building receiving a grant is the Salem town hall, which dates to 1738 and is now the historical society headquarters.
LCHIP grant recipients are required to raise a minimum of one dollar for each dollar provided by LCHIP.
