Vermont Historical Society asks committee for $700,000 to fix roof, drainage after repeated floods

The Vermont Historical Society asked the House Corrections & Institutions Committee on Feb. 20 for $700,000 in capital funds to repair roof, masonry and foundation drainage problems at its building in Barre.

The request covers the most urgent repairs to stop water infiltration that affected climate‑controlled storage and other areas during flooding in 2023 and 2024, Executive Director Steven Perkins said. Perkins said the society estimates the full scope of needed work at about $3 million.

The money before the committee is intended to pay for immediate roof replacement over the building's southwest entrance, masonry and brick repair where loose bricks pose a safety hazard, and installation of a new foundation drainage system to protect collection storage. "We were able to clean it up and mitigate it," Perkins said of the water that entered storage areas, adding that the society saw inches, not feet, of water in those spaces.

Nut graf: The society relocated its collections to the former Spaulding High School building in Barre after concerns about basement storage in the Pavilion Building in Montpelier; those concerns were reinforced by flood damage in recent years. Committee consideration of the capital request is part of the legislature's capital budget process; no committee vote on the $700,000 request was recorded at the hearing.

Perkins said the Vermont Historical Society, created by an act of the legislature in 1838, and moved by statute to Montpelier in 1992, occupies a complex 1892 structure that also houses the State Department of Libraries and the state archaeological collections and offices. The speaker said the society and its partners previously invested roughly $15 million in renovations in the late 1990s when the building was converted from school use; the society acquired the building for $1 after it was abandoned in the 1990s.

Jennifer Blair, the society's director of finance and operations, gave the committee a concise technical summary of current problems: roof sections that need replacement; failing bricks and masonry; drainage piping gaps and missing or insufficient underground piping; shallow or disconnected catch basins; and areas where downspouts are absent so water runs down masonry. Blair said the society commissioned an underground drainage survey that found missing or inadequate drain piping and areas full of mud that likely resulted from the 2023 water event. "We're looking at adding some downspouts for the drainage off the roof as well, as long as it complies with the historic preservation of the building," Blair said.

Blair told the committee a contractor is in place for the immediate $700,000 scope and that the contractor has performed prior preservation work on the building and is an approved preservation contractor. Perkins said federal funding and private fundraising remain part of the plan to raise the additional roughly $2 million the society estimates will be needed; he listed federal partners and regional development organizations engaged in discussions but said federal money is uncertain.

Committee member Sajid noted the $700,000 request covers only the most urgent work and asked whether the society was prepared to return if federal funds do not materialize; Perkins said the society would return to the committee next spring if needed, and also continue private fundraising efforts. Committee staff said final capital decisions on projects under consideration were expected at the end of next week, after the committee finishes taking testimony and following a town meeting week recess.

Ending: The committee did not vote during the hearing. Committee members said they would follow up with staff and the society if they had further questions before final decisions on the capital budget are made.