HISTORIC VERMONT
An On-line News Journal about the
Preservation of Vermonts Historic Architecture and Landscape
Number 20, January 2003
Published by the Preservation Trust of
Vermont, 104 Church Street, Burlington, VT 05401
http://www.ptvermont.org
IN THIS ISSUE
Preservation Benefit Concert Tickets Available
Silent Auction Success!
Vermont
News
- Preservation Grants Awarded
- Latchis Hotel & Theater Update
- Preservation Trust Receives Gannet
Foundation Grant
- National Register News
- Save Outdoor Sculpture! (SOS!) coming to
Vermont
National
News
- Congress Approves Jeffords' Lake Champlain
Bill, Authorizes $55 Million to Protect the Lake
Publications
& Resources
- Brandon Workbook: New Life for old
Document Preserves Best of Past for Brandonšs Future
Events
Opportunities
- Preservation Week Poster Contest
- Preservation Leadership Training
- State Historic Preservation Grants
- Preservation Education Institute: Workshop
Schedule at a Glance
Tickets available for Restoration Benefit
Concert
The Starksboro Village Meeting House Society is
donating to the Preservation Trust of Vermont two tickets for a
restoration benefit concert on Saturday, January 18th at 7:30
p.m., at the historic 1838 Gothic Revival style
Starksboro Village Meeting House. The
musicians are Mike Gordon, bass guitarist from Phish; Jamie
Masefield from the Jazz Mandolin Project; and Doug Perkins from
Smokin' Grass. In addition to these two tickets, the
Preservation Trust is also making an additional pair of tickets
available.
In the tradition of our silent auction, we are
accepting bids for each pair of tickets. Please place your
bid by emailing meg@ptvermont.org
or calling (802) 442-8951 with your name, address, phone number
and bid. The minimum bid is $60 per pair. The two
highest bids will be the winners. The bids will close on
Thursday January 16th at 6 pm and the winners will be notified on
Friday January 17th. You may bid only once, but you can bid
on both pairs if you wish. Be generous!
These are the only tickets remaining
for this concert. Please DO NOT SHOW UP at the door
without tickets; there will be no tickets at the door. The doors
open at 7:00 p.m. Plan on arriving by 7:15. The
Meeting House is located on VT Route 116 in Starksboro
village. Parking is at the Robinson Elementary School, a
short walk away. Dress warmly. Refreshments will be
available. Concert goers are asked to respect the historic
building and the neighbors' property--no smoking, alcohol, or
illegal substances.
Silent Auction Success!
Many thanks to all of you who participated in our
2002 Silent Auction by Mail. Thanks to all the businesses
and individuals who donated items or placed successful bids, we
raised over $25,000. A tremendous success!
If you placed a bid but weren't a successful
bidder, you can still contribute to the Preservation Trust of
Vermont. It is easier than ever...just print this donation
form and send it in to our office. Help of any level
makes a difference in communities throughout the state.
Thank you.
VERMONT
Preservation Grants Awarded
Since 1994 the Freeman Foundation and the
Preservation Trust of Vermont have had a partnership to support
preservation projects. Over $6.3 million in grants have been
awarded to help more than 280 projects in communities throughout
the state. These grants have played a key role in over $67.5
million in total rehabilitation work. The latest round of
grants includes:
Elmore Town Hall: $15,000.
The Queen Anne style Elmore town hall was built
in 1897 on the shore of Lake Elmore for $820.79 -- including
chairs,
tables and heating stove! It continues to
serve the community for all meetings and special events.
This summer a fundraising committee sponsored a town-wide
Benefit Block Party, raising close to $12,000. The grant
will support badly need foundation and roof repairs and
painting.
Brandon Town Hall: $40,000.
Since 1998, the Friends of the Brandon Town Hall
and the Town have been working on restoring the 1860-61 Town
Hall. The monumental Greek Revival style hall is in the
center of town and, once brought back to life, will be a
tremendous generator of cultural and economic activity in
downtown. The building has virtually been vacant since the
1980s. By August 2003, exterior repairs will be completed.
This grant will allow them to upgrade the electrical system,
make life safety code improvements, and help replace the front
steps so that the hall can be used for community functions while
the Friends organization continues to fund raise to restore the
interior.
Greensboro United Church of
Christ: $35,000.
The United Church of Christ was built in 1827
with a bell tower and entryway added in 1904 and fellowship hall
in 1970. The congregation is working to raise $300,000 to
rehabilitate the Church, Parsonage, and Fellowship Hall and to
increase the Church's endowment by a modest amount to celebrate
the 200th anniversary of the congregation's founding in 2004.
This grant will help with repairs on the steeple, roof and
furnace and more.
Greensboro Community Childcare Center,
Greensboro Bend: $25,000.
The Childcare Center is housed in the former
Caspian Area School, a one-story, hip-roofed, nearly square
Colonial Revival style schoolhouse built in 1931 and listed in
the State Register as a contributing building in the Greensboro
Bend Village Historic District. The Center was recently
awarded a Community Development Black Grant and Rural
Development Grant toward the purchase and phase one renovations
for the school, including window conservation, interior
renovations, lead abatement, accessibility, water and fire
safety improvements. The grant will allow them to purchase
new wood storm windows, paint the building and replace the
stockade fence.
Brookfield Old Town Hall: $50,000.
This past August the Brookfield Community
Partnership, a local volunteer organization, saved the town's
historic Old Town Hall from destruction, purchasing it at
auction for $95,000. Built in the mid-1850s as a rooming
house, the building was inaugurated as the Town Hall in August
1902 with the addition of a spacious rear ell housing an
auditorium and full raised stage. Since then, it has
served as the Town Clerk's office, post office, Grange, Masonic
Lodge, and a store. The building has not been in use since
the late 1960s, when it was bought privately and used for
storage. Complete rehabilitation is expected to cost
$400,000. This grant will allow the Partnership to shore
up the foundation and frame, install a new roof, and address
safety improvements including fire exits and new wiring so that
the main floor of the building can again be used for community
functions.
Ethan Allen Homestead,
Burlington: $25,000.
The Ethan Allen Homestead was extensively
remodeled in the middle 1980s, and many of the repairs and
reconstructions of that project have reached the end of their
service lives. Last spring the Homestead replaced the
wood-shingled roof. The grant will allow them to complete
repairs to the building frame, clapboard sheathing, windows and
doors, paint the building, and address heating and high humidity
issues that now threaten the building and its collection.
Latchis Hotel & Theater Update
For over a year, the Brattleboro Arts Initiative
and the Preservation Trust of Vermont have been working to raise
money to purchase and rehabilitate the historic Latchis Theater in
downtown Brattleboro. The efforts have both organizations
have raised $1.6 million, and the sale will take place this
month. In addition to the funds for acquisition, the
organizations have secured through the help of Senator Patrick
Leahy, $300,000 in housing and Urban Development money to support
the rehabilitation.
Gannet Foundation Grants Preservaton
Trust $10,000
The Gannet Foundation and the Burlington Free
Press recently awarded the Preservation Trust a $10,000 grant to
support the summer preservation retreats at the Grand Isle Lake
House. For more information: http://www.ptvermont.org/success.htm
National Register News
The National Park Service has recently listed the
following properties on the National Register of Historic Places.
First Congregational Church and
Meetinghouse in Townshend, Vermont.
Located on the village common and considered the
most prominent building in town, this two-and-a-half story wood
frame church was built in 1790 as a vernacular Federal style
church. In 1840 the front bay was added and the entire
church updated in the Gothic and Greek Revival styles.
Along with its religious function, it served as the town hall
until 1910 and is reflective of the evolving use of churches
from the early use of meetinghouses for both religious and
secular functions to a strictly religious use. The church
retains most of its interior and exterior features and continues
in religious use. The building was nominated under the Religious
Buildings, Sites and Structures in Vermont Multiple Property
Documentation Form.
Brooksville Advent Church, New Haven
This wood frame, vernacular Greek Revival style
church was built in the fall/winter of 1856/57 and
nominated under the Religious Buildings, Sites and Structures in
Vermont Multiple Property Documentation Form. Constructed
during the years of Brooksville's prosperity when the Brooks
Edge Tool Company was booming, the building is one of few
remaining architectural links to that era. Built by the
Adventists, it is reflective of the splinter groups that
flourished during the period of religious revivals in the
mid-19th century. The building has had a second life as a
museum, gift shop, and theater since 1937. These uses were
initiated by the owners of the Dog Team Tavern who began
managing the Church building in 1936 and used it as a gift shop
and museum to raise promote their missionary work in Labrador
and Newfoundland in conjunction with their Tavern
activities. While it's interior has been altered for these
uses, it largely retains its open floor plan and character
defining features such as window trim and woodwork.
Dog Team Tavern, New Haven
This building is a two-story, wood framed, gable
roofed Colonial Revival style tavern built in 1936 by Sir
Wilfred and Lady Grenfell to promote their missionary work in
Labrador and Newfoundland, for which he was knighted by King
George V in 1927. The restaurant and inn has been a
popular tourist stop on Route 7 since its construction, largely
supported by the growth in auto tourism after World War I.
The building has changed very little over the years and even
retains many of the artifacts made by the Labradorean people the
Grenfells supported.
Saddlebow Farm, Bridgewater
This property includes a c. 1786 Cape Cod type
farmhouse renovated in the 1930s for use as an inn by skiers and
horseback riding tourists, a 1920 sawdust shed and numerous c.
1970-1990 agricultural outbuildings. The property
functioned as a diversified hill farm for 145 years, was
purchased by an out of state owner for redevelopment as an inn
in 1931, and in 1937 became a summer home and winter ski rental
until 1970 when it became a year round home. It is a good
example of a hill farm that was redeveloped in the 1930s for use
in the tourism industry and a local trend setter in the
statewide movement to covert hill farms to summer homes by
out-of-state owners.
Save Outdoor Sculpture! (SOS!) coming to
Vermont
The University of Vermont will host the Save
Outdoor Sculpture! (SOS!) in 2004.
The exhibit features 200 images, at least one
sculpture from each state, that elevates the value of local
sculpture and monuments as also important to the national story.
Sections concern the variety of styles, the need for
collaboration, the history of making sculpture, sculptures'
unifying role with national tragedy, its controversial nature, and
its need for preservation.
For more information, please contact
Susan Nichols, Director, Save Outdoor Sculpture!, Heritage
Conservation (202)-634-1422 snichols@heritagepreservation.org
NATIONAL NEWS
Congress Approves Jeffords' Lake
Champlain Bill, Authorizes $55 Million to Protect the Lake
The House of Representatives recently
passed legislation, authored by U.S. Sen. Jim Jeffords, I - Vt.,
to preserve and protect Lake Champlain. The legislation
entitled, "The "Daniel Patrick Moynihan Lake Champlain
Basin Program Act of 2002," authorizes $55 million over five
years to enhance the environmental integrity and social and
economic benefits of
the lake.
Jeffords, the Chairman of the Senate
Environment and Public Works Committee said, "This
legislation builds on more than 10 years of success in working to
protect the environmental health of Lake Champlain. By
providing new and important resources to protect Lake Champlain,
this bill helps preserve it as a national treasure for
generations to come."
U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D- Vt., the Chairman
of the Senate Judiciary Committee and a co-sponsor of the bill
said, "Senate passage of the Lake Champlain bill will now
allow us to ramp-up federal funding to fight invasive species,
curb polluted runoff and clean-up toxic hot
spots. This will be a priority for me during next year's
funding cycle for the Environmental Protection Agency."
The legislation, which was included as part of
the Great Lakes Legacy Act, passed the Senate on October 17 and
now goes to the President for signature into law. The
legislation was co-sponsored by Leahy, U.S. Sens. Hillary
Clinton, D-NY, and Charles Schumer, D-NY.
The bill will implement the environmental
programs described in "Opportunities for Action: An Evolving
Plan for the Lake Champlain Basin," drafted by the Lake
Champlain Basin Program. It provides funding for the
reduction of
phosphorous inputs, the reduction of toxic
contamination, the control of nonnative nuisance species and other
projects described in the Lake Champlain Basin Program's plan.
For additional comment contact Bill Howland,
Executive Director of the Lake Champlain Basin Program at
802-372-3213.
PUBLICATIONS
& RESOURCES
Brandon Workbook: New Life for old
Document Preserves Best of Past for Brandonšs Future
The Brandon Historic Preservation Commission
announced the publication of the newly revised Brandon Workbook,
and presented copies of the book to members of the Brandon
Selectboard at their regular meeting, held Monday September 23.
The original book was published in 1986.
Members of the two year old Brandon Historic Preservation
Commission reviewed and revised the book to make the planning
document available once more to townspeople, local government
officials and businesses interested in revitalizing the downtown
business district. The update includes photos and maps that
reflect Brandonšs changing downtown. Text highlights
historic preservation recommendations which are aimed to preserve
and enhance elements of Brandon's historic past.
The new volume was financed by federal funds
made available to Brandon through the Certified Local Government
program, administered by the Vermont Division for Historic
Preservation.
The Brandon Workbook is available free of
charge to interested individuals and groups submitting a
letter of request to the Brandon Town Office. Address your
letter of request to: Denise Mahoney, Brandon Town Offices, 49
Center Street, Brandon, VT 05733, ATTENTION: Brandon
Workbook
Requests for Workbooks may also also be made
via email. Contact: dmahoney@sover.net
Place "Attention Brandon Workbook" in the subject
heading. Books are also available for pick up at the Town
Offices at 49 Center Street
in Brandon.
EVENTS
Smart Growth Conference.
The 2nd Annual New Partners for Smart Growth
Conference, organized by the Local Government Commission and Penn
State, will take place Jan. 30-Feb. 1 in New Orleans.
Session topics include: smart codes, schools as neighborhood
centers, greyfields and brownfields. Among the speakers: New
Urbanist Peter Calthorpe, Mayor Joe Riley, and Mayor William
Johnson, Jr. The National Trust is a co-sponsor. For more: www.outreach.psu.edu/C&I/SmartGrowth/.
OPPORTUNITIES
Preservation Week Poster Contest
The National Trust for Historic Preservation
issued today a call for entries for its third annual Preservation
Week 2003 Poster contest. Winning designs will be announced
and displayed at the National Building Museum during Preservation
Week 2003, May 5-12.
In 1971, the National Trust launched National
Preservation Week as a way to showcase grassroots activity in
communities nationwide. This year's theme, Cities, Suburbs
and Countryside, underscores how the preservation ethic is
changing, broadening its focus from saving
individual landmark buildings to tackling economic and quality of
life issues in America's downtown business districts and
inner-city neighborhoods, first-ring suburban neighborhoods and
historic, natural and scenic landscapes.
Richard Moe, president of the National Trust,
said, "Today, cutting-edge preservation and sustainable
growth strategies are being used to ensure that the rich tapestry
of America's past has a future. Preservation Week is the time to
show how your community is working to preserve the unique historic
places Americans know and love."
Contestants are encouraged to submit creative
and original Preservation Week posters with lively and evocative
images that celebrate wonderful historic places in America's
Cities, Suburbs and Countryside - and how historic preservation
helps save that heritage. Submissions must be postmarked no
later than January 20, 2003.
Cash prizes of $2000, $1500 and $1000 will be
given to the top three winners. In addition, the first-place
winner will receive airfare to Washington, DC, to participate in
the National Trust's Preservation Week kickoff event on May 5,
2003. Posters by the three winners and ten honorable
mentions will be displayed at the National Building Museum in
Washington.
For more information on the poster contest,
please send an email to preservationweek@nthp.org or call (202)
588-6037.
Preservation Leadership Training
June 14-21, 2003, York, Pennsylvania
Application deadline: April 2003
Preservation Leadership Training/Advanced
(PLT/A is open to individuals who have completed
the seven-day Preservation
Leadership Training)
"Organizational Excellence"
July 27-August 1, 2003, Grand Isle, Vermont
Application deadline: Friday, June 6, 2003
To add a name to our mailing list for PLT,
please send the address to plt@nthp.org.
There is more information about PLT on the web at http://www.nationaltrust.org/plt
-- you can even download the brochure and application information
there.
State Historic Preservation Grants
Applications are now available for the Division
for Historic Preservation's barn restoration grant
programs. The "Barn Grant" (agricultural buildings
including barns, corn cribs, sheds etc.) applications are due at
the Division office by 4:30 PM on January 11, 2002. Most of
the grants are awarded for serious problems with roofs, framing,
foundations or other parts of the building where continued
deterioration is likely to cause more serious problems. The
applications are not difficult to complete. Applicants need
good cost estimates and photographs showing the building, its
setting and the areas where work is proposed. If you have
any questions or would like an application call Eric Gilbertson at
802-828-3043.
Preservation Education Institute:
Workshop Schedule at a Glance
www.preservationworks.org
- January 18 and February 8,
2003 Did Mark Twain Really Sleep Here? Learn
to Write About Historic Buildings and Gardens
- February 28 - March 1,
2003 Historic Wooden Flooring
- May 16 - 17, 2003 Structural
Evaluation and Repair: Masonry
- July 10 - 13, 2003
Historic Plaster Repair
- July 14 - 15, 2003
Paint: Historic and Contemporary Materials and Practice
(Date Confirmation Pending)
- July 16 - 17, 2003
Structural Evaluation & Repair: Timber Frame
Structures (Date Confirmation Pending)
- July 18 - 19, 2003
Introduction to Architectural Photography
- Date Pending
Preservation Philosophy for People Who Maintain Old Buildings
- Date Pending
American Building Design and Technology
- Date Pending
Repointing Brick Masonry
-
THE PRESERVATION EDUCATION INSTITUTE
A Division of Historic Windsor, Inc.
PO Box 1777, Windsor, VT 05089-0021
802-674-6752 (Voice/TTY), 802-674-6179 FAX,
e-mail: histwininc@valley.net
For more information about Historic Vermont,
to subscribe or to unsubscribe to the email version, or to submit
something for publication please contact Meg Campbell, Editor. ptv@sover.net
