The only professional arts space in Piscataquis County is among 20 nonprofits receiving funding from Maine Preservation’s 1772 Foundation.
Dover-Foxcroft’s Center Theatre, an Art Deco movie house that has served as a cultural hub on and off for the past century, serves up to 20,000 people annually with performances, films and community events. It also offers free or pay-what-you-can educational programs, including camps, workshops and after-school activities.
But critical repairs are needed to a concrete pier that supports the building, which is on the banks of the Piscataquis River. The veneer brick and clay tile block on the rear of the building are also in need of work.
The theater’s owner, the nonprofit Center Theatre Inc., will be able to proceed with the project thanks to a $10,000 grant from the 1772 Foundation.
Capital improvements
This year’s round of grants, totaling nearly $131,000, ranges from $1,700 to of $10,000. The grants were administered by Maine Preservation. This is the seventh year Maine Preservation has partnered with the foundation.
The capital improvement funds go for ongoing maintenance and large-scale rehabilitation projects, from structural repairs at a cultural center in Patten and the Dover-Foxcroft theater to exterior carpentry repairs at historic house museums in Portland, Blue Hill and Hartland, said Tara Kelly, Maine Preservation’s executive director.
Projects were evaluated by Maine Preservation staff, who will also administer the grants. Each grantee was required to have matching funds for its project.
Founded in 1972, Maine Preservation is a nonprofit dedicated to promoting and preserving historic places, buildings, downtowns and neighborhoods. The 1772 Foundation was named in honor of its first restoration project, Liberty Hall in Union, N.J., which was built in 1772.
Ocean campus, oldest library
On Deer Isle, the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts was awarded $7,500 to support roof replacements at four structures at the National Register-listed campus. The craft school, founded in 1950, has operated as a seasonal, nontraditional school fostering intensive, collaborative learning in craft and visual arts.
Edward Larrabee Barnes designed the campus on a 40-acre coastal site overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. Today, Haystack serves approximately 2,000 visitors annually through workshops, residencies and public programs.
In Hallowell, Hubbard Free Library was awarded $8,500 to support the restoration of two pairs of exterior wood doors.
The community lending library dates back to 1880 in a Gothic Revival-style building that’s the oldest library building in Maine still in use for its original purpose. Over the past 15 years, the organization has raised over $500,000 to restore and weatherize 13 stained glass windows, repair 10 basement windows, install storm windows, replace the slate roof, repoint the granite exterior, replace major segments of sill and install new HVAC systems.
Other grant recipients
- Bell Hill Meetinghouse Association, Otisfield
- Center Theatre Inc., Dover-Foxcroft
- Farmington Historical Society
- Friends of Westport Island History
- Gayety Theatre, Van Buren
- Hartland Historical Society
- Haystack Mountain School of Craft, Deer Isle
- Hubbard Free Library, Hallowell
- Jonathan Fisher Memorial Inc., Blue Hill
- Lincoln County Community Theater & Orchestra, Damariscotta
- McLaughlin Foundation, South Paris
- Mechanics’ Hall, Portland
- Monhegan Museum of Art & History
- Patten Historical Society
- Phillips Children’s Foundation
- Pittston Literary & Historical Society
- Scribners Mill Preservation Inc., Harrison
- Tate House Museum, Portland
- Tides Institute & Museum of Art, Eastport
- Waterville Historical Society
