DYNAMIC PRESERVATION GRANTS AND HISTORIC PRESERVATION MATCHING GRANTS AWARDED
Over $975,000 in Funding Allocated
At its April meeting held in Providence, RI, trustees of The 1772 Foundation approved two grants in its dynamic preservation granting category as well as Stewart Barney Kean Historic Preservation Matching Grants in the six New England states and Georgia. The grants totaled $975,365.
Dynamic Preservation Grants are awarded for innovative and progressive preservation efforts, focusing on climate action and community-driven projects. Board President Margaret Waldock explains, “These are grants that pair long-term stewardship with evolving needs, demonstrating that preservation is climate action or adapting historic building for new uses. In all of this work, the thread is durability—supporting people and places in ways that endure.”
The Built Buildings Lab, located in Roslindale, MA, received $100,000 to support the development of its Plan to Accelerate Heritage-Informed Building Decarbonization. Key elements of the plan are engaging policymakers and providing them with guidance, tools, and training to track, quantify, and report the greenhouse gas mitigation benefits of heritage-based decarbonization.
The Trustees of Reservations, Boston, MA, was awarded a $10,000 grant to fund a two-year advisor exchange program with the United Kingdom’s National Trust. The program focuses on integrated stewardship, frameworks addressing climate adaptation, cultural landscapes, and community engagement.
Stewart Barney Kean (SBK) Historic Preservation Matching Grants, named for 1772’s founder, are matching grants of up to $10,000 for exterior restoration work and are administered by our state partner organizations in Connecticut (Preservation Connecticut), Georgia (The Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation), Maine (Maine Preservation), Massachusetts (Preservation Massachusetts), New Hampshire (New Hampshire Preservation Alliance), Rhode Island (Preserve Rhode Island), and Vermont (Preservation Trust of Vermont).
Margaret Waldock says of the SBK Grants, “Though modest in size, these bricks-and-mortar grants, as we like to describe them, fill a critical gap in preservation funding and often make the difference between a project remaining an idea or becoming a reality.” She adds, “From schoolhouses and libraries to town halls and other gathering places, these grants make it possible for communities to care for the places that anchor them.” This year, the 16th this granting program has formally existed, a total of 113 SBK grants were awarded.
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The 1772 Foundation was named in honor of its first restoration project, Liberty Hall in Union, NJ, which was built in 1772 and is the ancestral home of the Livingston and Kean families. The late Stewart B. Kean was the original benefactor of The 1772 Foundation. The 1772 Foundation works to ensure the safe passage of our historic buildings and farmland to future generations. More information about The 1772 Foundation may be found at 1772foundation.org.