Andrews Chapel Restoration Committee Receives Essex National Heritage Grant

Swampscott, MA - The Andrews Chapel Restoration Committee was one of 20 North Shore organizations that recently received an Essex Heritage grant.

The Essex National Heritage Commission (Essex Heritage), in keeping with its long tradition of supporting the region’s unique cultural heritage, announced the 2016 Essex Heritage Partnership Grant Program recipients at the Commission’s Spring Meeting in Newburyport on April 14. Over the next year, the 20 grant recipients will be working to implement a diverse range of educational, interpretive, and preservation projects throughout Boston’s North Shore.

“We recognize the importance of supporting local organizations” said Annie Harris, Essex Heritage CEO, “and we are proud that we are able to award twenty partnership grants this year – not only in recognition of the 20th anniversary of the Congressional Act that designated the Essex National Heritage Area but also because we know that this seed money greatly impacts the region by leveraging more investments in Essex County.”

As though situated in the English countryside, the Andrews Memorial Chapel is the most prominent feature of Swampscott’s only cemetery. Commissioned in 1923, the town-owned chapel had long fallen into disrepair when it was adopted by the all-volunteer Andrews Chapel Restoration Committee. With the goal of rehabilitating the Neo-Gothic edifice for memorials, music concerts, and community events, the committee has successfully addressed many of building’s exterior and interior needs. The Essex Heritage partnership grant will be used to restore the main entry portico underneath the chapel’s distinctive bell tower. The work will entail resetting the granite entry platform and steps, and repointing the tower’s extensive limestone trim.

Essex Heritage is the non-profit organization that manages the Essex National Heritage Area by developing programs that enhance, preserve, and encourage recreation, education, conservation and interpretation projects on Boston’s North Shore and the Lower Merrimack River Valley. The Essex National Heritage Area is comprised of the 34 cities and towns of Essex County, MA. For more information, visitwww.EssexHeritage.org or call (978) 740-0444.