CG36500 Funding Among Orleans CPA Requests

ORLEANS – Recommended spending on community preservation projects for the coming fiscal year currently sits just shy of $1 million.

 The community preservation committee on Feb. 6 voted 7-2 in favor of advancing $948,780 worth of projects for voters to consider at May’s annual town meeting. Committee members Barry Alper and Stephanie Gaskill voted against the recommendations.

 “I’m sorry it couldn't be unanimous,” Walter North, the committee’s chair, said at the close of the Feb. 6 public hearing held to review the applications. “It was a hard discussion, but I want to thank everyone for conducting it in a very professional and civil way.”

 The committee oversees the allocation of funds garnered annually for projects in the areas of historic preservation, recreation, open space and housing under the Community Preservation Act. The funds are collected through an annual 3 percent surcharge assessed on real property in town.

The list of recommendations for fiscal 2026 include $245,000 for the Centers for Culture and History in Orleans (CHO) to site and construct a boathouse for the famed CG36500 lifeboat. The vessel, which was instrumental in the rescue of 32 crew members aboard the tanker Pendleton in February 1952, has historically been kept outdoors. But CHO members argue that at nearly 80 years old, the vessel needs proper indoor lodging. The new boathouse would also allow for the boat to be kept on display for visitors, thus satisfying an educational requirement for its listing on the National Register of Historic Places. 

“We’re very excited that we’re back on track and moving forward,” said Jay Stradal, chair of the CHO board of directors. “It’s really getting critical.”

The committee supported $55,000 for design and engineering of a new boathouse in 2024. Last year, the committee’s application for additional funding was withdrawn due to concerns with how the project, which is proposed as an addition to the Hurd Chapel on the CHO property on River Road, might adversely affect efforts to secure a state construction grant for a new Snow Library. Library advocates had listed the same property as an alternate location in its application to the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners.

But the town learned last month that it did not receive the library grant, giving the CHO an opportunity to come back before the CPC for additional funding.

Along with requesting the CPA funding, CHO is also working with the town on securing a lease to site the proposed boathouse. With those pieces in place, Stradal said the nonprofit will begin efforts to raise the additional money needed for the project, which he said is estimated to cost $3.5 million. 

“Any other grant source or major donor is going to ask ‘Well, what kind of support do you have from the town?’ So we can point to the CPC vote, assuming that it remains positive, and also settling the issue on the land,” Stradal said.

An additional $142,000 in historic preservation funds is being sought for exterior restoration at the Academy of Performing Arts on Main Street. Specifically, the funding would be used to restore the building’s roof, rear siding and “exterior features,” according to the project application.

The town’s historical commission is seeking $40,000 in CPA funding in May. That includes $25,000 to continue its work filling out and submitting “Form B” surveys of historical properties in town for inclusion in the Massachusetts Cultural Resources System. An additional $15,000 is being sought for public education around the commission’s historic preservation efforts.

A request for $95,030 will support ongoing efforts to restore the Northwest Schoolhouse on Namskaket Road. The money would be used to finish necessary renovations in the building’s kitchen, including the purchase of kitchen equipment, installation of new walls and flooring, fire suppression system upgrades, accessibility upgrades and a water heater replacement.

“This grant will finally enable us to fund more of the renovations ourselves in the future,” Paul Davies, a member of the nonprofit group leading efforts to restore the historic building, said in the grant application.

The Sipson Island Trust is seeking $15,500 for improved signs on Sipson Island, while $1,250 has been requested to purchase window shades for the French Cable Museum. 

The slate of applications also includes recurring funding requests, including $10,000 to help fund workshops through the Lower Cape Housing Institute and $400,000 in support of the town’s affordable housing trust.

Rounding out this year’s requests is $379,425 for debt service on previously approved projects, and $35,000 to cover administrative expenses incurred by the CPC.

The CPC is next scheduled to meet on March 6. North said Feb. 6 that the recommendations could be subject to change in the coming weeks.