2024 is a grant-writing year. Today we submitted a Round 30 Massachusetts Preservation Project Fund (MPPF) grant request to the Massachusetts Historical Commission. Our proposed work for Set in Stone Phase 4 addresses the next most urgent area of deterioration: the West tower wall.
Tucked around the back, away from Central Street, and facing Pleasant Street, the West tower wall is not readily noticed. But a close look at it reveals major areas of missing mortar, cracks, and shifting of stones. The clover-shaped trefoil window also has open areas around it. We’ve had the window patched from the inside – a temporary and partial fix. All of this leads to water ingress: the biggest enemy of any building.
The MPPF process is a matching grant program, and we are eternally grateful to the Robinson-Broadhurst Foundation for having promised us the necessary matching funds.
The grant application is rigorous, requiring engineering reports, repair plans, budgets and detailed photographs. The application also asked for letters of community support. We were most grateful to obtain letters from the Winchendon History and Cultural Center, the Town of Winchendon Building Commissioner, the Community Action Committee, Toy Town AA, the Winchendon Courier, Our Neighbor’s Kitchen diners, and the Winchendon Historic Commission. We thank all of these folks for their kind words.
We’ll hear back from MHC in June, and all fingers are crossed until then. We sincerely hope you will see the now-familiar scaffolding gracing our building this time next year.
