2024 Maine Preservation Grants Awarded
Macon, Georgia
21 grant recipients announced
The 1772 Foundation, partnering for a fifth year with Maine Preservation, awarded historic preservation one-for-one matching grants totaling $126,700 to twenty-one private nonprofit organizations maintaining historic sites in Maine. The grants ranged in amount from $1,750 to the grant maximum of $10,000, which four organizations received.
Grants were provided for exterior work: painting; surface restoration; fire detection/security systems; repairs to/restoration of chimneys, porches, roofs, and windows; repairs to foundations and sills; and masonry repointing. Maine Preservation field services staff evaluated the applications and also will manage the grants. Each grantee was required to have matching funds for its project.
Ethiel Garlington, executive director of The 1772 Foundation, recalled, “Our founder, Stewart Barney Kean, fell in love with historic preservation through the act of restoration. He appreciated the materials and workmanship of historic buildings. More importantly, he recognized the value of maintenance, repairs, and upgrades to ensure historic places survive for the next stewards. These grants exemplify his spirit and love of historic preservation.”
Grant recipients were Brooks Historical Society (Pilley House, Brooks); Falmouth Land Trust (Hurricane Valley Farm Barn, Falmouth); Frances Perkins Center (Frances Perkins Homestead, Newcastle); Gayety Theatre (Van Buren); Greenville Junction Depot Friends (Greenville); Indian River Community Association (Indian River Baptist Church, Addison); Maine Museum of Innovation, Learning and Labor (Camden Yarns Mill, Lewiston); Northern Forest Center (Gehring House, Bethel); Old Bristol Historical Society (Mill at Pemaquid Falls, Bristol); Oxford Historical Society (Pigeon Hill Schoolhouse, Oxford); Patten Historical Society (Patten Baptist Church, Patten); Poland Spring Preservation Society (All Souls Chapel and Maine State Building, Poland); Sagadahoc Preservation, Inc. (Winter Street Congregational Church, Bath); St. Albans Maine Historical Society (East St. Albans Library, St. Albans); The Historical Society of Wells and Ogunquit (First Church Meetinghouse, Wells); The Waldo Theatre (Waldoboro); Vassalboro Historical Society (Taylor Blacksmith Shop, Vassalboro); Vaughan Woods & Historic Homestead (Hallowell); Victoria Mansion (Portland); Walpole Union Chapel Museum (Walpole); and Wilhelm Reich Museum (Orgone Energy Observatory, Rangeley). Grants were also awarded in each of the other five New England states and in Georgia.
President of The 1772 Foundation Margaret Waldock, commenting on the importance of the matching grants, said, "These bricks and mortar grants across New England and Georgia prove that small investments can have transformational results. Our statewide partners continue to demonstrate the power of historic preservation in communities in seven states. We are in awe of their work and the work of the grantees saving these fascinating places.”