Preservation Trust of Vermont 

 
Preservation Trust Completes Purchase of the Vermont Marble Museum

After a two-and-a-half year process, the Trust is pleased to announce the completion of the acquisition of the Vermont Marble Museum in Proctor, Vermont. 

The property was transferred in two parts. Today, the Trust acquired the 90,000 sq. ft. Marble Mill Building which houses the Vermont Marble Museum collection on the second floor.  A variety of businesses, some of which are related to the marble industry, use rental space on the first floor.  In 2012, the Trust acquired the museum collection, including the exhibits and a large library of historic glass plate negatives. 

The purchase of the Vermont Marble Museum was made possible by generous individual donors, several foundations, a major grant from the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board, and support from US Department of Agriculture.

In addition to acquiring the Museum, the Trust has worked to establish a new nonprofit  -- the Vermont Marble Museum Inc. -- that will operate the museum and oversee the management of the real estate. The Trust is very fortunate that Bob and Vicky Young of Proctor and Ina Smith Johnson of Poultney have stepped up to form the first Board of Directors of the organization and take on the stewardship of the building.  Because of grant and loan requirements, the Trust will hold the building and lease it to the new nonprofit for the next five years.  At the end of the five-year period, the building will be passed on to the museum; the collection will be on permanent loan to the museum.

The museum has remained open seasonally through this transition.  The cafe and gift shop is open year-round.  

Over the next several years, the Trust will be seeking state, federal and other grants to address environmental cleanup, upgrade the building to comply with current code and life safety requirements, and begin the process of rehabilitating the former mill building.

This has been a long journey with lots of ups-and-downs and twists-and-turns in the road. The Trust is grateful that the owners of the museum and real estate, Martin and Marsha Hemm, were patient through this complicated process.

The Trust's ultimate goal with this project is enable the museum to tell the story of one of Vermont's most important legacies: marble.  The Museum has the potential of becoming a major attraction in the state and an education resource for VT schools.  In addition, the Museum and incubator space in the building will play a strong and important roll in the Town of Proctor's future prosperity.

Honoring Ann Cousins                               


Ann Cousins
Field Service Representative
Director, Historic Places Revolving Fund

Effective at the end of 2014, Ann Cousins will retire from her long service for the Preservation Trust of Vermont. Ann has been the backbone of the PTV's Field Service Program since its inception in 1997.  Initially funding through the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the Mellon Foundation, the Preservation Field Service Program began as a pilot program designed to reorganize how the preservation movement worked on a national and state-wide level.

Because of Ann's and others' work, the Field Service program became a national model for other statewide preservation organizations. Formerly, the National Trust provided field services out of their regional offices; PTV's pilot program demonstrated the effectiveness of bringing this critical work closer to the communities that are being served. Many states have followed suit and developed their own Field Service program.

In her 17-year tenure, Ann has helped hundreds of community organizations and literally thousands of individuals.  She is not only well respected but also much beloved by many of those around the state whom she has served.

Among Ann's special contributions to preservation in Vermont is the development of the Preservation Retreat Program at the Grand Isle Lake House.  The retreats provide invaluable opportunities for technical support, training, idea exchange and cross-mentoring for a wide-range of communities and individuals working to help save and reuse historic places in Vermont. Additionally, Ann has been instrumental in coordinating the annual statewide historic preservation and downtown conferences.

In the last several years, Ann has also managed our Historic Places Revolving Fund program, established with funding from the 1772 Foundation.

All of us on the Preservation Trust board and staff are grateful for Ann's extraordinary contribution and will miss her skilled insight, passion and delightful sense of humor. 

Beginning in February 2015, Ann's expertise will be put to good use as she serves her first (of hopefully many) terms on the Preservation Trust of Vermont Board of Directors.



PTV Welcomes New Staff                               

Lisa Ryan
Field Service Representative

Lisa Ryan joins the PTV team with 15 years of experience in community development and non-profit management. She earned her Masters of Science in Historic Preservation from the University of Vermont before moving to Thomasville, GA to work first as the Programs Coordinator and later Executive Director of Thomasville Landmarks. She returned to Vermont and joined the team at the Vermont Community Development Program, which administers over $40 million in federal funds to communities throughout the state. In her free time, Lisa enjoys performing in Worst Song Ever competitions, preparing exotic mixed drinks, traveling to small towns all over the globe, and indulging her adorable dog.


Scott Newman Field Service Representative

Before joining PTV, Scott Newman was the Historic Preservation Officer for the Vermont Agency of Transportation, a position he held since 1999. Prior to his move to state government, Scott owned and operated a historic building restoration company for 12 years, transitioning to independent preservation consulting for 6 years. Scott studied conflict mediation at VT Law School in 2012, has a B.A. in Economics from Concordia University in Montreal, and an M.S. in Conservation of the Built Environment from the University of Montreal. In his free time, Scott pursues adventures and recreation of all kinds: volleyball, water sports, cycling, and sampling Vermont's great food and drink from every corner of the state.



Preservation Grants Awarded 

 

Since 1994 the Freeman Foundation and the Preservation Trust of Vermont have had a partnership to support preservation projects. Over $11 million in grants have been awarded to help more than 400 projects in communities throughout the state. These grants have played a key role in over $130 million in total rehabilitation work. The 2014 round of grants includes:  

 

Former Craftsbury Inn: $50,000

After foreclosure, the former Inn faced a very uncertain future.  But at auction, a couple purchased the property and then donated it to the Craftsbury Center.  The nonprofit is working to turn the most important historic building in the village center into a community center and gathering place.  It will have meeting and live performance space as well as a pub to serve the Craftsbury community.  The building needs a lot of attention including roof and foundation work, ADA access, rebuilding of the porch, interior finishes, exterior painting, and demolition of deteriorated additions. This grant will provide a critical piece of the funding necessary to transform the Greek Revival building. 

 

 

St. Johnsbury History and Heritage Center: $50,000

Several years ago, the Fairbanks Museum told the local historical society that they would need to find a new home for their collection, which was stored at the Museum.  The Museum had run out of space, and so the historical society began the process of finding a new home for its 8,000 piece collection.  After exploring several locations, they found an Italianate house and carriage barn at 421 Summer Street in St. Johnsbury near to both the Fairbanks Museum and the Athenaeum.  The group raised the $185,000 to purchase the property, and is now focused on a variety of improvements so that the house and carriage barn will work as a museum.  This includes ADA access, converting space into a classroom, perimeter drainage, and structural work on the carriage barn so that the society's larger items can be displayed there.  This grant plus additional fundraising will help them accomplish these improvements.

 

Darling Inn, Lyndonville: $45,000

Located in the heart of Lyndonville's Designated Village Center, the Darling Inn provides 28 affordable apartments for low-income seniors and disabled people.  This historic building is also the site of the Community Meal Center and Meals on Wheels program.  When it opened in 1928 as the Hotel Darling, it was considered one of the most luxurious hotels in Vermont.  After many prosperous years, the hotel ran into financial trouble, and in 1980 it was reopened for senior housing and as a meal site.  Rural Edge, a nonprofit housing organization, is undertaking a $2 million rehabilitation of the building to bring it up to code, improve accessibility and energy efficiency, renovate apartments, and rehabilitate the historic exterior and interior spaces. This grant will help address the rehabilitation of the historic façade, repairing the masonry walls, the handicap access, the large historic windows on the first floor, rehabilitation of the lobby and dining room.  

 

St. Peter's Episcopal Mission, Lyndonville: $45,000

Built in 1898, St. Peter's Mission was designed by Henry Vaughan, a talented and well known church architect who came to America to bring the English Gothic style to the American Episcopal Church.  The Gothic style is exhibited in the church's gable-front with pointed arch windows; steeply pitched roof; and richly textured building materials of brick, stone, wood trim, and slate.  St. Peter's houses the Lyndon Area Food Shelf, and hosts monthly community luncheons.  The church membership has replaced the furnace, made site drainage improvements, installed a ramp, and upgraded the electrical wiring to meet code.  This grant will help them address repair and repointing of the masonry, exterior woodwork repair and painting, window conservation and installation of storm windows. 

 

 

Historic Properties for Sale                       

The two properties below are covered under terms of Historic Preservation Easements and Conservation Easements.


Stoddard Goodenough Farmstead
West Brattleboro, VT 

 

Constructed c. 1780 to accommodate two families, the bank farmhouse stands as an intact rare example of 18th century residential construction.  Eleven room house, barn and 32 acres.  Read on...

 





Jacob Davis Farmstead
Montpelier, VT

Built as the homestead for one of Montpelier's prominent earliest settlers, the c. 1836 Jacob Davis Home and associated 19 acres of land is among the earliest Greek Revival style buildings in central VT. Read on...

 

 

Town History in 3D Competition                            

Hidden within the small valleys of Vermont are historical treasures - beautiful buildings with a past as rich as their architecture. Using the 3D modeling software Sketchup and 3D printing technology, the Town History in 3D Competition will bring Vermont historical buildings and their amazing past to life.

Sixteen High School and middle school students from around the state are registered to work in teams to research and recreate 3D models of historical buildings in their area. In the process they will uncover and document the history of buildings and create a multimedia presentation to accompany their printed 3D models.

All completed models and their accompanying multimedia presentations will be entered into a statewide spring invitational showcase where they will be judged for their technical mastery, architectural accuracy and historical research and presentation.

The Town History in 3D Competition is being organized by Mike Hathorn of Hartford High School with the support of Google, the Preservation Trust of Vermont, Vermont's Agency of Education, and the Vermont Department of Housing and Community Development, Division of Historic Preservation.

Partners include The Preservation Trust of Vermont, Google, Hartford High School, Vermont Agency of Education, Vermont Office of the Creative Economy, Vermont Division for Historic Preservation, Dept.of Housing and Community Development, 7 Days Tech Jam and SketchUp.

For more information: 3dvermont.org