The Vermont Division for Historic Preservation (VDHP), Gov. Phil Scott and the Vermont Advisory Council on Historic Preservation announced Jan. 26 the awarding of grants totaling $321,363 to 20 municipalities and non-profit organizations in six counties to facilitate the restoration and rehabilitation of Vermont landmarks and important historic buildings and structures. These grants will leverage more than $1 million in restoration and rehabilitation efforts, supporting about 40 preservation construction jobs.

Among the 20 projects receiving funding this year are the Fletcher Free Library in Burlington, Fort Ethan Allen Water Tower in Essex, and Sanborn Covered Bridge in Lyndonville. The grant funds will support restoration of stained-glass windows at the Jeudevine Library in Hardwick and the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Swanton, slate roof repairs of the Episcopal Church in East Guilford, plaster repairs at the U.S. Post Office & Customs House in Richford, and foundation and drainage work at the Brookline Meetinghouse. For a full list of grant award recipients visit the VDHP website.

The Division for Historic Preservation administers the Historic Preservation Grants, a state-funded program awarding one-to-one matching grants up to $20,000 for the rehabilitation of civic and community resources that are a vital part of Vermont’s historic downtowns, villages, and rural communities. In order to qualify, the resource must be at least fifty years of age and listed in, or eligible for, the National Register of Historic Places. Since the creation of the Historic Preservation Grants in 1986, more than 600 projects on historic buildings, structures, and sites owned by municipalities and non-profits have received $6.08 million, leveraging five times as much in non-state funds for these projects. 

The Vermont State Archives and Records Administration (VSARA), a division of the Secretary of State’s Office, have been awarded a $34,000 grant to build statewide capacity to preserve, and provide access to, Vermont’s rich  documentary history.  

Initiated in 2017 to provide sustainable archival assistance to Vermont’s historical records repositories,  the mission of VHRP is to improve public access to, and engagement with, Vermont’s historical records  and to encourage and facilitate collaborative efforts. VHRP will use the grant to develop a strategic plan  for prioritizing, defining, and funding statewide historical records projects. The grant also provides continuing support to established services of the VHRP, which include  temperature and humidity monitoring for record storage areas, disaster recovery for historical records  infested by pests or impacted by a water event, mobile scanning digitization, and a wide range of  workshops.