Grant gives Mount Holly barn new life
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By Josh O'Gorman STAFF WRITER - Published: September 14, 2009
MOUNT HOLLY — A historic barn is no longer about to collapse beneath its own weight, thanks in part to a state grant but also to some good-old-fashioned community action.
Six years ago, the Rev. Glenn Davis and a friend purchased the Crowley Farm, which had been in the Crowley family since the 1700s. Davis first renovated the farmhouse, jacking it up and putting a new foundation beneath it, but when that work was done there was no money left for the barn, which dates back to 1820 and has seen better years.
"I was concerned because it was starting to make a lot of noise, a lot of creaking, like it was about to fall down," Davis said.
Davis' barn is far from the only historic one in town, said Annette Lynch, board president of the Mount Holly Barn Preservation Association.
"We counted up all the barns in town older than 50 years and came up with 59," Lynch said. "Then we identified the five in most desperate need."
In 2005, Lynch's group applied for a grant from the Division for Historic Preservation, which since 1991 has awarded about $1.3 million to preserve about 200 historic structures around the state.
The Mount Holly Barn Preservation Association received a $10,000 grant — the maximum allowed —which was split equally among the five barns identified as the most needing work. But, the grant comes with some strings attached, the biggest being that the property owner has to come up with one-to-one matching funds for the grant.
To help barn owners clear this one last financial hurdle, the association established a fund to loan them money to match the grant with a $5,000 grant from the Windham Foundation.
For Davis, the state grant and the money from the barn association allowed Daniel McKeen of Middletown Springs to replace a rotted sill and put in new posts to transform a barn that was once about to fall over into one that stands as upright as it did 100 years ago.
To commemorate the barn's rebirth, Davis is hosting a ceremony with the barn association at 10:30 a.m. Sept. 19, followed by a reception at the Crowley Cheese Factory.
For Davis — who has served the Village Baptist Church of Mount Holly for nearly 30 years — the resurrection of the barn is nothing short of Biblical.
"It's nice to see a barn saved, because they were created for a purpose just as we were created for a purpose," Davis said. "The pastor in me can't help but see a parable in this."
josh.ogorman@rutlandherald.com
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