Sacred Sites Program Pledges 24 Grants to Congregations Across State
The Sacred Sites Committee recently met and pledged 24 grants—the largest number to date—to religious properties throughout New York State. These grants included 19 Sacred Sites Grants, totaling $61,500, four Robert W. Wilson Sacred Sites Challenge Grants totaling $140,000 and one Jewish Heritage Fund Grant of $50,000. The Jewish Heritage Fund grantee, Congregation Beth Elohim in Park Slope, Brooklyn will use this amount towards a $1.7 million roof and masonry restoration project at its 1909 sanctuary building by architects Eisendrath and Horwitz.
The Conservancy is also pleased to continue its relationship with St. Paul’s Armenian Apostolic Church in Syracuse, with a second grant toward structural repairs and roof replacement at this 1888 Queen Anne-style church by architect James H. Kirby. Church members sought funding last year for roof replacement and during the grant-review process Conservancy staff discovered deflecting roof trusses. The project committee immediately redirected its efforts toward designing a structural repair, which the Conservancy helped fund with a prior $2,000 Sacred Sites Grant.
The program was also pleased to be able to support the 1861 First United Methodist Church in Albion in its efforts to stabilize and restore roof trusses that were extensively altered in 1914 when the sanctuary ceiling was raised. With a $50,000 Robert W. Wilson Sacred Sites Challenge Grant and an additional $500 for a structural engineering assessment to determine a reinforcement method to enable roof trusses to support the roof load, the congregation hopes to complete a major copper roof-replacement and masonry restoration project in the next year.
