The Cohos Historical Society Celebrates
$56,500 Grant Award
LCHIP awards $3.5 million to Support Natural and Historic Resource Projects Statewide
Dec 4 2019 The Board of Directors of the Land and Community Heritage Investment Program (LCHIP) has announced $3.5 million dollars in matching grants awarded to thirty-three projects across the state, including the Cohos Historical Society in Stratford, NH.
The Cohos Historical Society, a local non profit 501C3 organization, has received a $56,500 grant award to support the restoration of the Marion Blodgett Museum in Stratford Hollow, NH.
“We are very appreciative of LCHIP’s investment in the restoration of the Marion Blodgett Museum” said Jamie Davis, CHS’s President. “The LCHIP award will enable the Cohos Historical Society to begin Phase 1 of the restoration of our Museum to provide a resource and community center for our area.”
Originally built in 1850 as a Greek and Gothic Revival meetinghouse, this church continues to define the Stratford Hollow village. Short-term, the Cohos Historical Society needs to raise $50,000 for structural work, a new roof, storm windows and exterior painting. Long term, it will need $250,000 in restoration work for stained glass window restoration and interior finish work. Because of the LCHIP Grant and the help from the NH Preservation Alliance, Phase 1 will begin in spring 2020. This project is a community effort, which makes our organization strong. We welcome as much community involvement as we can get to resurrect our beautiful historic town buildings.
LCHIP funds will support projects in each of the state’s ten counties. This grant round was highly competitive, with over $7 million in funding requests compared to $3.5 million available for grants. LCHIP Board Chair Amanda Merrill of Durham observed “The LCHIP Board of Directors was particularly impressed with the variety and quality of projects seeking support this year.”
Grant recipients are required to raise a minimum of one dollar for each dollar provided by LCHIP. This year’s awards of $3.5 million will be matched by more than $10 million that the project proponents will raise from other public and private sources, infusing a total of almost $14 million into the state’s economy in direct project activity.
About New Hampshire’s Land and Community Heritage Investment Program
The New Hampshire Land and Community Heritage Investment Program is an independent state authority created by the legislature in 2000 with a legislative mandate is to ensure the perpetual contribution of natural, cultural and historic resources to the economy, environment, and quality of life in New Hampshire. LCHIP provides matching grants to New Hampshire communities and non-profits to conserve and preserve the state’s most important natural, cultural and historic resources. Prior to the grant awards described herein, the program has provided 466 grants which have helped to conserve more than 290,000 acres of land for food production, water quality, ecological values, timber management and recreation and supported 280 projects to rehabilitate historic structures and sites. Grants have been awarded in all parts of the state and in 167 of New Hampshire’s 234 communities. Forty-six million dollars of state money has led to a total project value of more than $317 million. The money for LCHIP grants comes from fees on four documents recorded at the Registry of Deeds in every county of the state.
For more information about LCHIP, visit LCHIP.org or call (603) 224-4113.