Historic Boston, Inc. (HBI) redevelops at-risk historic buildings in order to help Boston’s neighborhoods thrive. Started in 1960 as a rescue mission for Boston’s oldest commercial building, the Old Corner Bookstore, when it was slated to become a parking garage. A group of concerned Bostonians came together to save the building that had housed the publishers of Henry David Thoreau’s Walden and Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin, and this group grew into the organization that is now Historic Boston, Inc.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation has consistently placed urban churches on its list of the 11 most endangered places in the US. Many historic and architecturally significant religious structures in Boston neighborhoods have experienced decline. Aging structures, deferred maintenance, and changing demographics have caused many houses of worship to fall into disrepair.
Sharing the belief that urban religious properties are crucial landmarks for communities, HBI started the Steeples Project in 1993. Since its inception, the Steeples Project has helped to restore houses of worship that define neighborhoods, create a sense of place, and house social service programs that strengthen and sustain the shared bonds of communities.
The Steeples Project is a competitive, dollar- for-dollar matching grant program for preservation planning, major repairs and exterior lighting projects for historic houses of worship. HBI grants up to $10,000 for planning purposes, up to $25,000 for major renovation work and up to $10,000 to fund the exterior lighting of steeples.
Partnering with the Lynch Foundation
The Lynch Foundation supported the Steeples Project with two grants: $50,000 in 1996 and $100,000 in 2004. The trustees were compelled to invest in the model, which required that every dollar donated by The Lynch Foundation be matched by a dollar from the congregation receiving funding. Furthermore, HBI helped many of the grant recipients become recognized by the National Register of Historic Places, enabling them to receive additional funding from public sources.
Since its inception, the Steeples Project has awarded grants of more than
$1.4 million to 51 congregations throughout Boston’s diverse neighborhoods. These grants were used to leverage additional investments of more than $13 million.
Beyond the Steeples Project, the Lynch Foundation continued its partnership with Historic Boston with a 2013 investment in the restoration of the Kittredge House in Roxbury, one of only a handful of Greek Revival period houses in Boston.
The two churches pictured are First Church in Roxbury (Unitarian Universalist) and St. George Cathedral (Albanian Orthodox) in South Boston. First Church was originally built as a meetinghouse in the 17th Century and was renovated through The Steeples Project in 2013. St. George was built in 1872 and was renovated in 1999.