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Canaan residents ask Jefferson County for help saving 1850s Kramer House; commissioners to review preservation funds
Summary
Volunteers and preservation experts urged the county to help stabilize and preserve the Kramer House in Canaan, describing immediate needs (artifact storage, roof repairs) and a phased funding request that includes a $12,000 porch/stair repair and an eligibility study for listing on the National Register.
A volunteer grant writer told Jefferson County commissioners on Feb. 19 that the Kramer House, a mid-19th-century property in Canaan, is deteriorating and needs immediate help to protect artifacts and stabilize the building.
Dana Schafer, who identified herself as a volunteer grant writer for the Pain and Events Center Richmond Foundation, reviewed work already completed (roof and foundation repairs funded by a $30,000 competitive community foundation grant and more than $8,000 in donations) and said the project remains short of funds needed to finish repairs and to prepare a historic-structures report and National Register eligibility documentation. "The Kramer House is in trouble, and we need help," Schafer said on the record.
Schafer described specific near-term needs: secure, climate-appropriate storage and packing supplies for artifacts; a historic-structures report and eligibility study (work she said typically costs about $9,000 for the consultant/architect phase); and roughly $12,000 to repair a porch and exterior stairway so a second-floor storage area can be used safely. She said the group is pursuing multiple grants and has two pending applications with March decisions; in the meantime, artifacts remain exposed to roof leaks.
Several community members and local preservation professionals supported the application on the record, and one speaker described the moment as a rebirth of community energy in Shelby Township and Canaan. Commissioners said they would review existing special-project and historic-preservation line items in the county budget to determine if short-term funding or a phased county contribution would be possible and asked staff to report back.
No formal county funding was approved at the meeting; the presenter and supporters said they will continue grant work while the county reviews internal options and eligibility steps for National Register nomination.
