Grants Fund Preservation Planning

Grants Fund Preservation Planning 

In June, the Connecticut Trust awarded Historic Preservation Technical Assistance Grants to fourteen municipalities and nonprofit organizations, totaling $138,345. The grants will make possible a minimum initial investment of $276,690 in these historic sites. The grants, intended to encourage and support community efforts in planning for the preservation, restoration, and rehabilitation of historic buildings and places, are part of the Trust’s technical assistance program, in collaboration with and with generous funding from the Connecticut General Assembly, the Connecticut Humanities Council, and the State Historic Preservation Office, Department of Economic and Community Development, through the Community Investment Act. The recipients are: 

New Fairfield, Preserve New Fairfield, Inc.: $1,500 for emergency conditions assessment of the roofs at the Hubbell house and Parsonage (1840) 

New Haven, Congregation Beth Israel: $20,000 for plans and specifications for restoration of the Orchard Street Shul (1920; NR) 

Plainfield, First Congregational Church of Plainfield: $7,932.50 for exterior conditions assessment and treatment plan for the church building (1816, NR) 

Plainville, Congregational Church of Plainville: $15,275 for plans and specifications for restoring the church building (1850, NR pending)  

Portland Historical Society: $8,825 for a conditions assessment and National Register nomination for the White-Overton-Callander house (c.1714)  

Southbury Historic District Commission: $9,922.50 to assess the condition of roofs of Old Town Hall (1873) and South Britain Library (1904), and maintenance assessment of them plus the Bullet Hill School (1762), all NR.  

Southington Community Cultural Arts, Inc.:  $20,000 for capital needs assessment and design development for reusing the Gura building (1925, NR) as a cultural arts center 

Stamford, Unitarian Universalist Society: $4,800 for conditions assessment of the church (1870, NR)  

Stonington, Stanton-Davis Museum, Inc.: $6,465 for a business plan to complete restoration of the Stanton-Davis homestead (1670 and later, NR)  

Thomaston, Railroad Museum of New England:  $5,000 for conditions assessment and long-term restoration plan for the Thomaston railroad station (1881, SR in process) 

Torrington Historical Society: $2,500 for a feasibility study to relocate and restore Skee’s Diner (1920, NR)  City of Torrington: $13,500 for a conditions assessment, site survey, and archaeological study of the Jacob Strong house (1750, SR)  

West Hartford, Town of West Hartford and Noah Webster House, Inc.: $15,125 for phase two of a capital needs assessment and code review for the Sarah Whitman Hooker homestead (c.1720-1810, NR) 

Windsor, Ellsworth Memorial Association with Connecticut Daughters of the American Revolution: $7,500, for an historic structure report of the Oliver Ellsworth homestead (1781, 1788, NHL).  

This article originally appeared in Connecticut Preservation News, July/August 2012. For more information on the Connecticut Trust’s Historic Preservation Technical Assistance Grants, visit http://www.cttrust.org/index.cgi/119