Preservation commission awards $58K in grants to local programs

THE LOOF CAROUSEL, in East Providence's Riverside section, is a National Historic Landmark. The city received a $10,000 grant from the R.I. Historical Preservation and Heritage Commission to hire an architecture firm to prepare plans, specifications and a request-for-proposals for contractors, and to oversee window restoration and other exterior repairs, for the carousel. / COURTESY CITY OF EAST PROVIDENCE
THE LOOF CAROUSEL, in East Providence's Riverside section, is a National Historic Landmark. The city received a $10,000 grant from the R.I. Historical Preservation and Heritage Commission to hire an architecture firm to prepare plans, specifications and a request-for-proposals for contractors, and to oversee window restoration and other exterior repairs, for the carousel. / COURTESY CITY OF EAST PROVIDENCE

PROVIDENCE – Nearly $58,000 in grants has been awarded to local historic preservation programs by the R.I. Historical Preservation and Heritage Commission.
Grants to East Greenwich, East Providence, North Smithfield, Pawtucket, Providence and South Kingstown will support local preservation activities, including:

  • Plans for restoration of a historic carousel
  • A master plan for a historic school building
  • Planning documents for a historic town-owned farm
  • A National Register nomination for an industrial district
  • A charrette for a historic state-owned building
  • The re-evaluation of a historic commercial district
  • The annual statewide historic preservation conference

“These grant awards are an acknowledgement of the commitment which these communities have made to protect their historic resources. The commission is pleased to support activities which local governments have identified as high priorities,” RIHPHC Executive Director Edward F. Sanderson said in a statement.
Here is information about the grants:

  • East Greenwich received $7,400 to fund a conditions assessment and maintenance plan for the town-owned Briggs-Boesch Farm. The 72-acre property includes a farmhouse, barn, outbuilding and stone walls. The funded report will recommend capital improvements and present an annual maintenance plan for all of the historic structures.
  • East Providence will use $10,000 to hire an architecture firm to prepare plans, specifications and a request-for-proposals for contractors, and to oversee window restoration and other exterior repairs at the Looff Carousel in Riverside. Built in 1895 by Charles I.D. Looff, the carousel is a National Historic Landmark.
  • North Smithfield will receive a $6,500 grant to hire a consultant to prepare a master plan for the Forestdale Schoolhouse, built in 1877 and maintained by the North Smithfield Heritage Association. The master plan will present alternatives for the best use of the building, a capital improvement strategy and timetable of priorities, cost estimates and recommendations for funding sources.
  • Pawtucket will use $9,000 to pay a historic preservation consultant to prepare a National Register nomination for a cluster of industrial buildings that formerly housed the Jencks Spinning Company on Weeden Street. The factory complex was used for the manufacture of yarn, cloth and tire cloth.
  • Providence, working with West Broadway Neighborhood Association and Providence Preservation Society, was awarded $10,000 to hire a consultant to facilitate a day-long charrette focused on producing a reuse strategy for the Cranston Street Armory, built in 1907.
  • South Kingstown will receive $5,000 to hire a preservation consultant to conduct a survey of the Wakefield Historic District and update the existing National Register nomination. The district has a variety of well-preserved commercial, residential and industrial buildings built over the course of two centuries.
  • The R.I. Historical Preservation and Heritage Commission also has reserved $10,000 to fund the 2017 Rhode Island Statewide Historic Preservation Conference. A location for the event will be announced later this year.

Grants are part of the commission’s Certified Local Government program, which provides assistance to cities and towns that protect the historic character of their communities through local historic district ordinances.
CLG grants are funded by the U.S. Department of the Interior and National Park Service, and are awarded and administered by the R.I. Historical Preservation and Heritage Commission. Eighteen Rhode Island cities and towns are Certified Local Governments.

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