As tree cover opens up into downtown Hancock, the multi-tiered Meetinghouse steeple is one of the town’s most prominent features.
Select board members are now eyeing the steeple as a final phase of extensive overhauls to the building that have taken place in recent years.
“It’s what I’m calling the crowning phase,” said select board chair Thomas Shevenell about the project.
Initial estimates estimate the project will cost about $80,000, half of which select board members are hoping will come from a New Hampshire Land and Community Heritage Investment Program (LCHIP) grant.
The Meetinghouse is part of the town’s historic downtown area, and is unique across the state because it’s one of the few buildings that doubles as the First Congregational Church as well. Shevenell said when the separation of church and state occurred, town and churches parted ways. In Hancock, the town divided the building, with town affairs taking place in the lower section, and church activities happening on the second floor.
The building underwent an $865,000 overhaul in 2014, during which support was put under the first floor, the slate roof was replaced, storm windows were replaced and repainted, a stage area was redone, the first floor was brought up to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliant, and a lift to the second floor was installed.
“It was an extensive overhaul,” Shevenell said.
He said the town applied for an LCHIP grant but were denied. That left the town to raise more than $300,000 to put toward the project, and the rest for taxpayers to cover.
Later, the town applied for an LCHIP grant for work needed on the building’s windows, and received it.
Now, the select board is in the process of filling out another LCHIP application for work on its steeple. Shevenell said pieces of railings in the steeple gave way and were found on the ground last summer. Drone photos also revealed problem areas on the structure that need to be fixed.
Shevenell said the town has a Capital Reserve Fund specifically for repair work needed on the building. He said about $55,000 is in the account, although the select board will likely cap the amount it takes out of the fund at $20,000.
The LCHIP application is due in June, and Shevenell said they will find out in November if it was awarded the money. He said at that point it will be more clear how the town will come up with the remainder of the dollars, which will likely require fundraising.
LCHIP Executive Director Dijit Taylor said the amount of money the organization gives out is depends entirely on the state budget that the legislature passes. Gov. Christopher Sununu’s proposed state budget includes $3.5 million for LCHIP grants, a number Taylor said is about average.
She said, right now, the organization has received about 50 to 60 intent-to-apply applications. Taylor said that’s a little on the high side compared to previous years. The number of applications it accepts on any given year ranges considerably based on the amount they grant for each of the projects, but generally falls somewhere between 20 and 30 projects.
Taylor said town’s in the Monadnock region are active when it comes to applying for LCHIP grants.
‘It’s a historic area,” she said of the region. “And towns have an interest in preserving historic resources.”
Peterborough is working on an LCHIP application for its Town House.
Last year, LCHIP granted money for restoration of the Jaffrey Meetinghouse roof project, and for the Francestown Town Hall $1 million overhaul.
Shevenell said if all goes as planned, the project would pass in front of voters at Town Meeting in 2018, and construction could begin as early as that summer.
“It’s a key feature in the town in terms of an anchor,” Shevenell said of the building.
Abby Kessler can be reached at 924-7172, ext. 234 or akessler@ledgertranscript.com.