The Maine Irish Heritage Center got an early St. Patrick’s Day gift this week in the form of a check for $3 million from the federal government.
The center, which is housed in the former St. Dominic’s Church at 33 Gray St. in Portland, has had extensive water damage and is in need of restoration.
U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-1st District, made a visit to the center on Tuesday to make a ceremonial drop off of the check. The ceremony featured a tour, musical and Irish dance performances and a reception of tea and Irish soda bread.
Tuesday’s event was attended by Pingree and her staff; Bob Kearney, chair of the Maine Irish Heritage Center board; Vinny O’Malley, founding member of the center’s board of directors and former executive director; and Paul Rooney, who is vice counsel general of Ireland.
The $3 million in Community Project Funding, which Pingree helped secure, will help restore, update and weatherize the historic building, which dates to 1893.
The funding will pay for exterior work to seal leaks, which have caused interior damage. The goal is to eventually transform the space into a “premier gathering space,” with a new, modern performance space and history-exhibition space.
The Maine Irish Heritage Center is already two decades into a restoration. A $1.2 million renovation, completed in 2008, repaired significant interior damage to the bell tower. More recently, the organization has completed eight projects related to improving the building envelope and its energy efficiency, as well as projects to improve building accessibility.
Pingree is a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee and a member of the Congressional Historic Preservation Caucus and the Friends of Ireland Caucus.
