State historic preservation officials outline large maintenance backlog, ask for increased capital funding

Laura Trieschmann, the Vermont State Historic Preservation Officer, told the Capital Budget Committee on Jan. 29 that the Division for Historic Preservation is managing 84 buildings and about 2,000 acres that require continuing repairs, and asked the committee to consider boosting the governor's capital recommendation to address an expanding backlog.

"I am Laura Trieschmann, the Vermont State Historic Preservation Officer. This is a position I've been pointed to for 12 years now," Trieschmann said at the hearing. She said the office recorded 82,000 visits to state historic sites in the most recent year and brought in "over half a $1,000,000" in admissions and gift-shop revenue.

The central budget dispute presented to the committee is the size of the historic sites major-maintenance allocation for the next capital biennium. Trieschmann said the agency's official request was $700,000 for FY26 and $700,000 for FY27, while the governor's recommended capital budget includes $550,000 for each year. Trieschmann told the committee the program's anticipated need for the two-year period is $2,240,000.

Jamie Duggan, director of preservation in the Division for Historic Preservation, described how years of level funding and the loss of in-house design and project-management capacity prompted the division to start managing more projects directly. "We started to receive our funds directly and manage our own projects," Duggan said, noting the state still relies on Buildings and General Services (BGS) for some cyclical contracts such as plowing and mowing.

Duggan and Trieschmann walked the committee through a long list of major-maintenance projects that staff prioritize when funding is limited. Projects discussed included roof replacement and ventilation work at the Chester Arthur House in Fairfield (estimate discussed: $125,000 for roof framing and wood shingle work), masonry and foundation stabilization at the Morrill House and other flood-impacted sites, historic timber repairs at Kent's Corner barn, plaster and interior repairs at the Coolidge Homestead, and emergency bank stabilization and archaeology work at Monument Road in Swanton.

Committee members pressed for the division's prioritization criteria. Duggan said safety for visitors and sites open to the public is the first priority, followed by significance and condition; she also warned that deferred maintenance increases long-term costs. "We need to stop patching and... fix these because as you can see," Duggan said while pointing to photos of structural deterioration displayed for the committee.

The division told the committee it received $1,000,000 in the prior capital bill for FY24–FY25 and that $993,800 of that amount was anticipated to be expended on listed projects. Trieschmann and Duggan said the broader need exceeds that one-time infusion and that additional capital would allow the division to move projects from reactive emergency repairs to a more proactive maintenance program.

Officials also warned of an external funding risk. Trieschmann told the committee federal funding and grant awards the division depends on are currently affected by a court action that temporarily froze some federal awards. She said, "If we include our historic preservation fund... I've got $2,000,000 frozen." That freeze, she said, affects several matching grants that would otherwise leverage state funds for prioritized projects, including funds tied to the Morrill House and the Bennington Battle Monument work.

Committee members raised the Bennington Monument separately; staff recommended scheduling a separate briefing because that project and its potential $40,000,000 scale include many moving pieces. Trieschmann and Duggan also asked the committee to consider the timing of federal-match requirements for several grants, warning that if federal dollars remain inaccessible the division will have to reallocate scarce state maintenance funds or postpone projects.

The presentation covered two smaller line items in the governor's section 4 recommendation: a recurring $46,000 request in each year for the underwater-preserves program (buoys, signage and permitting for Lake Champlain sites administered with the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum) and a $25,000-per-year roadside-marker request the governor had left out of the recommended budget. Division staff told the committee they have 28 roadside-marker applications pending and about $10,000 remaining in foundry funds; they said ten markers currently at the foundry cost $3,000 each and likely will be ready for installation by summer.

There were no formal votes at the hearing. Committee members directed staff to schedule follow-up briefings on the Bennington Monument and on the building-community grant lines to align presentations, and asked the Division for Historic Preservation to return with more detail on priorities tied to $550,000 versus $700,000 annual allocations.

Trieschmann closed by stressing the dual mission of stewardship and public access: maintaining historic integrity often requires specialized contractors and treatments that increase costs, but staff aim to balance preservation standards with practical use and visitor safety.