Swampscott Andrews Chapel to Receive Historic Preservation Award

SWAMPSCOTT, MA - After completing a lengthy renovation process, Andrews Chapel is set to receive a 2017 Massachusetts Historical Commission Historic Preservation Award.

Last summer, the nondenominational chapel located in Swampscott Cemetery was renovated with town funding, donations of $140,000 from residents as well as labor from local contractors. By 2008, the chapel had fallen into a state of disrepair, with holes in the roof, water infiltration, missing windows and sections of the lower walls and baseboards missing.

Improvements to the chapel's interior include 10 leaded glass windows, new walls, wiring and light fixtures, stenciling and lettering, new electrical and heating systems, and a new bathroom. The chapel is also now handicap accessible.

This week, Secretary of the Commonwealth William F. Galvin, chairman of the Massachusetts Historical Commission, announced the selection of the Andrews Chapel.

Andrews Chapel sits on a 65-acre rural-plan cemetery, which remains the community’s only burial place. The chapel was built in 1923 as a memorial to Isaac Andrews, a selectman and town assessor during the early 1880s. The Andrews family donated the funds for the construction and had architect Charles Burgess design the chapel.

“The Massachusetts Historical Commission is proud to recognize the extraordinary accomplishments of this year’s awardees,” said Galvin in a press release. “The projects the commission is recognizing this year are particularly diverse and represent the many creative ways that significant historic resources are being preserved across the Commonwealth. The Andrews Chapel restoration has revitalized a treasured local landmark and allowed it to be actively used by the entire community.”

The efforts of the community allowed for a full restoration of the interior, highlighted by the restoration of the pews, front doors and all 10 of the diamond-paned, stained-glass windows. Other work on the interior included repairs and replacement of interior walls and flooring damaged by water infiltration and pests, restoration of the distinctive stencil work, heating and electrical upgrades and restoration of the original lighting. The front entry was also rebuilt with new granite steps and accessibility ramps matching the original Rockport quarry stone steps.

This is the 39th year of MHC’s Preservation Awards program. Projects are considered annually for awards in the categories of Rehabilitation and Restoration, Adaptive Reuse, Education and Outreach, Archaeology, Stewardship and Landscape Preservation. Individuals are considered in the categories of Individual Lifetime Achievement and Local Preservationist. Galvin serves as the chair of the 17-member Massachusetts Historical Commission.

Courtesy Photo / Essex National Heritage Area