PROVIDENCE – The 1772 Foundation awarded $209,000 in grants last week to 16 Rhode Island organizations for historic preservation projects.
The Connecticut-based foundation awards money annually across the United States for targeted historic restoration efforts. This year, for the first time, the foundation partnered with Preserve Rhode Island to solicit and review applications as a team.
Foundation Executive Director Mary Anthony said the process worked well.
“If you look at the projects they’re a real great variety in there,” she said. “We have everything from a lighthouse to an armory to an artist’s cabin.”
Local organizations that received money were:
At the Westerly Armory, the check has already arrived and work started on sealing the masonry of the Armory’s headhouse. President Roberta Mudge Humble said the work is critical because sandblasting during the 1950s removed the bricks’ finish and left the masonry more porous, which let moisture seep in. The sealing is just the latest project in a years-long effort to restore the armory, now used as a function space and museum.
“The armory has come a long way since October 1992 when we began this project,” Humble said. “This grant is important to the very life of the building. Water and sunlight are the enemies of all structures. That sandblasting of the Armory was like removing the top layer of skin.”
