The Conservancy’s Sacred Sites Committee recently awarded $316,000 in matching grants to 22 historic religious institutions. These ranged from a 1793 Federal-style wood-frame church in Schenectady County’s Duanesberg, to a 1925, neo-Gothic stone church in Buffalo by architect Bertram Goodhue. The $316,000 in total grants will help leverage $5.4 million in repair and restoration projects throughout New York State.
This brings our annual Sacred Sites grants total to $613,500, helping to fund $8.8 million in restoration projects.
VIEW SLIDESHOW OF ALL GRANTEES
Three sites in New York City received grants totaling $50,000. The Church of St. Paul & St. Andrew, United Methodist on Manhattan’s Upper West Side received a $30,000 matching grant to help repair its tile roof, spire, and repoint masonry. Architect Robert H. Robinson designed the Renaissance Revival style church, completed in 1897. The congregation serves over 100,000 individuals a year through its social services and cultural programs. The First Presbyterian Church in Brooklyn Heights, designed by architect W. B. Olmstead in 1846 will complete restoration of its Tiffany stained glass with the assistance of a $10,000 Sacred Sites matching grant. Congregation Tifereth Israel, in Corona, Queens, received a $10,000 matching grant towards perimeter waterproofing. Architect Crescent L. Varrone designed Congregation Tifereth Israel in 1911 and it is the oldest remaining synagogue in the borough.
Our grantees illustrate the statewide reach of our program, as well as our partnership with Long Island project underwriter, the Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation. Grantee sites outside of the city include the First Presbyterian Church, in Southold, on Long Island’s North Fork. The 1803, wood-frame Federal-style church received a $20,000 grant to assist with steeple restoration. Located in the Adirondacks, Forest Presbyterian Church, a shingle-style church designed by architect Albert W. Fuller in 1894, will replace its roof with an assistance of a $10,000 Sacred Sites matching grant. Westminster Presbyterian Church in Buffalo, an ornate Italianate-style stone building by architect H. M. Wilcox, received a $30,000 matching grant to complete needed spire and masonry restoration.
The Sacred Sites Program has two grant rounds annually. Our next application deadline is January 15th, with those grants awarded in early May. Active historic religious institutions located in New York State are eligible to apply. For more information contact the Conservancy at 212-995-5260.
Grants, June 2019
Baptist Temple Church, Newburgh, $6,000
Broad Street United Methodist Church, Norwich, $30,000
Christ Church United Methodist, Troy, $6,000
Christ Episcopal Church, Duanesburg, $7,000
Church of St. Paul and St. Andrew, United Methodist, New York, $30,000
Congregation Tifereth Israel, Corona, $10,000
Congregational Church of Patchogue, Patchogue, $17,500
Congregational Church of Patchogue, Patchogue, $2,500
First Baptist Church of Norwich, Norwich, $9,000
First Congregational Church, Walton, $14,000
First Presbyterian Church, Brooklyn, $10,000
First Presbyterian Church, Chester, $5,000
First Presbyterian Church, Chester, $1,000
First Presbyterian Church, Southold, $ 30,000
Forest Presbyterian Church, Lyons Falls, $11,000
Mt. Sinai Congregational Church, Mt. Sinai, $3,500
New Bethel CME Church, Rochester, $7,500
Plymouth Congregational Church, Syracuse, $9,000
St. John’s Episcopal Church, Oneida, $12,000
St. John’s Church, Getty Square, Yonkers, $ 25,000
St. John’s Grace Episcopal Church, Buffalo, $10,000
Temple Concord, Binghamton, $30,000
Westminster Presbyterian Church, Buffalo, $30,000