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 19.  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. 

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 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 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.

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	Center Harbor Village Schoolhouse
Center Harbor	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	Haverhill Library
Hebron	Hebron Academy Building
Henniker	Tucker Free Library
Hooksett	Hooksett Town Hall
Keene	Cheshire County Court House
Keene	Wyman Tavern
Lancaster	Wilder-Holton House
Lancaster	Parker Noyes Building
Lee	Town Hall
Lee	Parish House
Littleton	Littleton Public Library
Mason	Town Hall
Meredith	Meredith Public Library
Middleton	Old Town Hall
Mont Vernon	Mont Vernon Town Hall
Moultonborough	Moultonborough Grange
Moultonborough	French-Taylor House
Moultonborough	Castle in the Clouds
Nashua	First Church
Nelson	Town Hall and Old School House
Newbury	The Fells, Historic Main Porch
Newbury	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	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	Stratford Grange Hall
Sullivan	United Congregational Church of Sullivan
Swanzey	Whitcomb Hall
Swanzey	Mt. Caesar Union Library
Swanzey	Golden Rod Grange Hall
Tamworth	Hall-Dyer House
Wakefield	Union Hotel
Warner	Pillsbury Free Library
Weare	Clinton Grove Academy Building
Wentworth	Wentworth Congregational Church
Wentworth	Old Town Hall
Westmoreland	Town Hall
Wilmot	Town Hall & Library
Winchester	Winchester Center Church
Windham	Searles School & Chapel
Windham	Town Hall