Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Historic Preservation topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Fall River historical commission votes to send letter supporting Saint Anne’s Shrine grant application
Summary
The Fall River Historical Commission voted to provide a letter of support for Saint Anne’s Shrine’s application to the CPC to fund masonry repointing and other repairs; commissioners voted unanimously to approve the letter.
The Fall River Historical Commission voted Tuesday to provide a letter of support for Saint Anne’s Shrine Preservation Society’s application to the CPC seeking funds for masonry repointing and related repairs at Saint Anne’s Church.
The support letter will accompany the society’s application, which the presenter said already passed an eligibility review with the CPC. Jeff Montigny, president of the Saint Anne’s Shrine Preservation Society, told the commission the group has completed roof, downspout and slate work and now seeks funding for “repointing on some of the stones,” including buttresses on the building’s transept where stones have begun to shift. “That’s the work that we’re proposing to do with the grant money, because I wouldn’t want to see one of those stones fall,” Montigny said.
The society distributed photos to commissioners showing areas of mortar loss and dislodged stones. Commission Chairman Richard Mancini asked for a formal motion after the presentation. Commissioner Jonathan Lima moved to approve a letter of support; the motion passed on a voice vote. Commissioners recorded “yes” votes; Mancini said he would prepare and deliver the letter “within a couple of days.”
Why it matters: The letter is intended to strengthen the society’s application to the CPC for capital repairs on a building the society and commissioners described as historic. Montigny said the immediate concern is masonry joints on multiple buttresses on the north and south sides of the church; the proposed work is to grind out deteriorated joints and repack them with mortar.
Commission discussion and comments focused on the preservation effort and past work on the building. Mancini and commissioners expressed support for the society’s progress and its persistence in pursuing restoration funding.
The commission did not set a dollar amount in the meeting; Montigny described the scope as limited to targeted repointing and did not specify an exact grant request amount. The society had supplied photographs and a brief description to commissioners for review.
The society’s application will proceed with the CPC; the commission’s letter will state the body’s recognition of the church as a historic building and its support for the proposed masonry work.
