GRAFTON — The nonprofit Mascoma Valley Preservation group has won a $315,000 federal grant to help it convert the historic Grafton Center Meetinghouse into a marketplace and event center along Route 4.
The award was part of $4.4 million in funding headed to New Hampshire from the Northern Border Regional Commission, the panel that backs economic and community development projects in much of New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine and upstate New York.
MVP President Andrew Cushing on Thursday said his group is “thrilled” to have gotten the award, which combined with an earlier $150,000 grant from New Hampshire’s Land and Community Heritage Investment Program and fundraising by the group will enable it to invest about $630,000 into the building next year.
“It will be transformative for Grafton and we’re so fortunate to find ourselves stewards of this building,” Cushing said via email.
Part of the future renovations will include a rear addition with stairwell and lift to make the second floor of the old Meetinghouse ADA accessible, allowing it to be used for pop-up dinners, art shows, movie nights and other community events, Cushing said.
The main floor of the building would be used as a market space under MVP’s plans. Plans also call for a commercial kitchen and upgraded bathrooms in the building.
Built in 1797 as a meetinghouse, the building was in recent years home to the Peaceful Assembly Church until it was badly damaged in a 2016 fire that killed church founder John Connell.
MVP later bought the property from the church and has paid off various back taxes and fees owed the town of Grafton, though it still owes the church $7,000 as part of the purchase deal, according to MVP Treasurer Elaina Bergamini.
Voters at Grafton Town Meeting in March had rejected a bid by MVP to forgive $6,000 in taxes and legal fees it inherited from the church. MVP has also applied for a property tax exemption and was denied, but is appealing to the state Board of Tax and Land Appeals, she said.
Volunteers last fall covered damaged windows with decorative barn quilts, many of which have since been auctioned off as a fundraising vehicle, and a temporary hard roof was installed to protect the timbers and prevent more water damage to the structure.
“Now the interior is nice and dry,” Bergamini said.
The group also plans to bring in a timber framer and get a quote on a permanent roof to ensure a water-tight envelope for the building, according to Bergamini. MVP has also made progress this year in its fundraising, she said, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, and altogether has raised about $120,000 outside the two big grants.
In other awards, the Norther Border commission is also giving $350,000 to the nonprofit Sunapee Heritage Alliance to upgrade the Livery Building, constructed in 1892 to serve a hotel in Sunapee Harbor, and help bring it up to current structural codes. Built as a four-story horse stable with circular ramps, the building was later used for town offices and is now being repurposed for community events.
The Northern Border grants were announced in a news release from New Hampshire’s Congressional delegation.
News staff writer John Gregg can be reached at jgregg@vnews.com or 603-727-3217.