Rockingham Times

LCHIP awards $4.7 million to Support Natural and Historic Resource Projects Statewide The Board of Directors of the Land and Community Heritage Investment Program (LCHIP) is delighted to announce the awarding of over $4.7 million in matching grants for forty projects supporting both historic preservation and land conservation.  Projects are well distributed among the state’s ten counties, including Old Town Hall in Salem.  Governor Chris Sununu has this message for the grant recipients: "Congratulations to all of this year's LCHIP grant award recipients," said Governor Chris Sununu. "These grants help preserve and define the character of our local communities. It's what New Hampshire is all about."

The Town of Salem through its Municipal Services Department has received a $46,640 grant award to support costs associated with complete window restoration for the Old Town Hall.

“Salem is extremely happy to receive this grant which will help fund a major portion of the project which involves rehabilitation work to the windows as identified through the historic building assessment. They are in poor condition and will be restored to their original state including adding storm windows. It has been a meetinghouse, a house of worship, a library, a courthouse, and even a senior center.  Old Town Hall has stood the test of time and change but lately the exterior has started to show some real distress. We can’t wait to get going.” Said Roy E. Sorenson, Municipal Services Director

Old Town Hall, built in 1738, is located in the Historic District along with three other historical structures, Alice Hall Library, the Hose House Number 2, and School House Number 5 located on School Street. It directly abuts the Old Burying Ground and Salem Commons whence it once stood. All of this is part of the Historic District near the crossroads of School Street, Main Street, and Bridge Street. History is everywhere, be it the buildings, the gravestones, or the monuments surrounding the gazebo memorializing those sons and daughters lost to the wars over the years. It is a glorious landscape full of stories, the original town center, and where Salem itself was born starting with the meetinghouse now called Old Town Hall. Time and the unrelenting New England weather have taken its toll on the outside of the building moreover the windows. The building needs corrective action immediately or could face irreparable damage which would take away from its beauty and authenticity. Municipal Services and the Historic District Commission have committed to exhausting all efforts to secure the necessary funds needed for this project including conducting a fund-raising event in early 2022.

LCHIP funds will support projects in all ten of the state’s counties. The natural resource projects awarded funding in this grant round include land to help meet the increased interest in outdoor recreation activities, farmland to supply local food for local people, land with scenic and environmental values and working forests to sustainably transform a highly visible part of the landscape into products needed by the people of the state.  The historic resource grants include projects as straightforward as new roofing to as complex as near-total rehabilitation of elaborate buildings. Coincidentally, the oldest and newest buildings receiving grants are both town halls:  Salem (1738), now historical society headquarters and Wilmot (1906) suffering from flood-induced water damage.

LCHIP grant recipients are required to raise a minimum of one dollar for each dollar provided by LCHIP.  This year’s awards of $4.7 million will be matched by $19 million that the project proponents will raise from other public and private sources, infusing a total of twenty-three million dollars into the state’s economy in direct project activity. 

Originally a meetinghouse built by the settlers in the land north of Methuen along the Spicket River, Old Town Hall has gone through several changes notwithstanding being moved to its current location in 1838. The exterior is traditional colonial architecture however the interior of the second-floor grand room adorns mystic Tudor style elements provided through a special project brought by the people. Today, after centuries of different roles, it fittingly serves as the location for the Town Museum. Old Town Hall is open for tours to the public and also hosts many events during the year through the efforts of the Historical Society. For more information on this project and/or to learn more about Old Town Hall go to www.townofsalemnh.org or call (603) 890-2150.

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. LCHIP’s 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 does this by providing matching grants to New Hampshire municipalities and non-profits to conserve and preserve the state’s most important natural, cultural and historic resources. The program has provided 530 grants which have helped to conserve close to 300,000 acres of land for food production, water quality, ecological values, timber management and recreation and has supported projects to study and rehabilitate 324 historic structures and sites. Grants have been awarded in all parts of the state and in 179 of New Hampshire’s 234 communities. Fifty-four million dollars of state money have led to a total project value of more than $312 million. The money for LCHIP grants comes from fees on four kinds of 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