Metcalf House, Lewes (Courtesy of the Delaware Preservation Fund)
Two dozen historic structures – 15 houses, four churches, three commercial buildings, a school and a lighthouse – have received grants from the Delaware Preservation Fund.
Several are open to the public as museums, including Rockwood Park and Mansion, Barratt’s Chapel, the Lydia B. Cannon Museum and the Parson Thorne Mansion.
The grants totaled $140,000 – a bigger pot than usual over the fund’s 22-year history – thanks to a $100,000 contribution from the Delaware Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs.
The grants ranged from $2,450 to $10,000. The Delaware Preservation Fund is a subsidiary of Preservation Delaware.
Even small grants like that can make a large and timely impact. The Buttonwood Mansion in New Castle, for instance, received $10,000 to replace its leaky roof. “The mansion was seriously threatened,” said Michael Emmons Jr., a program manager and a staffer of the Center for Historic Architecture and Design at the University of Delaware. “The grant allowed the owners to replace the roof immediately and bought it some critical time for full preservation work to be planned and executed.”
While the Delaware Preservation Fund has historically supported bricks-and-mortar projects, it has begun considering applications for preservation planning project. “Often times, an engineering assessment or a nomination to the National Register of Historic Places is a crucial first step toward saving a historic building,” said Cate Morrisey, also a center staff member.
The fund received 30 qualified applications for the 2023 grant program.
The fund just opened applications for the 2024 cycle, and they’re due Feb. 1 at the Preservation Delaware webpage for the fund.
2023 Delaware Preservation Fund grants
St. John the Baptist Church, Newark (Courtesy of the Delaware Preservation Fund)
New Castle County
1005 N. Broom St., Wilmington, $5,000
1110 N. Broom St., Wilmington, $5,000
816 N. Van Buren Stl. Wilmington, $4,050
Archmere Academy (“The Patio”), Claymont, $10,000
Buttonwood Mansion, New Castle (Courtesy of the Delaware Preservation Fund)
Buttonwood Mansion, New Castle, $10,000
Church of the Holy City, Wilmington, $4,000
Dairy Palace, near New Castle, $10,000
Polk House, Odessa, $5,000
Rockwood (wash house), near Wilmington, $2,450
St. John the Baptist Church, Newark, $5,000
Parson Thorne Mansion, Milford (Courtesy of the Delaware Preservation Fund)
Kent County
Barratt’s Chapel, Frederica, $4,000
Parson Thorne Mansion, Milford, $6,300
Smyrna Sporting Goods, Smyrna (Courtesy of the Delaware Preservation Fund)
Smyrna Sporting Goods, Smyrna, $10,000
Harbor of Refuge Breakwater Lighthouse, Lewes (Courtesy of the Delaware Preservation Fund)
Sussex County
514 Railroad Ave., Lewes, $5,000
Cannonball House, Lewes, $6,500
Captain William Russell House, Milton, $5,000
Georgetown Icehouse, Georgetown, $6,500
Harbor of Refuge Breakwater Lighthouse, Lewes, $5,000
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Hitchens House, Laurel, $5,000
Lydia B. Cannon Museum, Milton, $6,250
Magee Farms, Selbyville, $5,000
Metcalf House, Lewes, $5,000
Prospect AME Church, Georgetown, $4,950
Rosemont, Laurel, $10,000
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