Center Harbor awarded $9,500 Moose Plate grant for 1843 Town House rehab

CENTER HARBOR — The Center Harbor Heritage Commission has been awarded a $9,500 Moose Plate grant for the 1843 Town House from the New Hampshire Division of Historical Resources. The grant will be used to help fund restoring electricity to the Town House, and for emergency lighting. In addition, the original circa 1930 interior pendant lights will be refurbished and reinstalled. The work will begin later this month.

The historic Town House was electrified in the late 1920s or early 1930s. Electric service was discontinued in the 1980s when the building was used for storage. According to Heritage Commission chairperson David Reilly, "Doing work on the Town House without any electricity has been very challenging. But our contractors were really great and brought in portable generators so we could do some rehab the last couple of years. Thanks to this Moose Plate Grant, the electricity will make it so much easier for everyone working on the rehab, whether contractors or volunteers. Plus, once the lights are back on, we hope to begin using the Town House for some meetings next summer."

Listed on the New Hampshire State Register of Historic Places, the Center Harbor Town House is located at 175 Daniel Webster Highway, on the corner of Waukewan Road. It is a single story, gable-front Greek Revival style meetinghouse that hosted town meetings and voting until the current municipal building was constructed in 1970. It also served as a one-room schoolhouse 1933-1946. In 2015, the Board of Selectmen and Town Heritage Commission launched an effort to rehabilitate the Town House and return it to seasonal use for meetings of town committees and community organizations.

The rehabilitation is funded through grants, individual and corporate donations and public money. To contribute, send a check, made payable to the Town of Center Harbor Heritage Fund, to Town of Center Harbor Heritage Commission, P.O. Box 140, 36 Main St., Center Harbor, NH 03226. Donations are tax-deductible.

For more information about the New Hampshire Conservation and Heritage License Plate Program, visit www.mooseplate.com.