Auburn one of 18 sites chosen by MDAH to receive preservation grant

Published 4:40 pm Friday, January 21, 2022

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NATCHEZ — Natchez’s historic Auburn mansion at 400 Duncan Avenue has been awarded $234,192 from the Community Heritage Preservation Grant program with 17 other preservation and restoration projects across the state.

Completed in 1812, Auburn is a Greek Revival mansion designed by architect Levi Weeks and is credited with influencing the façade of other Natchez homes in the years leading up to the Civil War. It was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1974, as a Mississippi Landmark in 1984 and is on the National Register of Historic Places.

The grant funds are marked to be used for the restoration of its portico columns, Billiard Hall, and Duncan Pavilion.

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At its regular meeting Friday, the Board of Trustees of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History awarded over $3 million on behalf of the Community Heritage Preservation Grant program to 18 different projects across the state, including Auburn.

The Community Heritage Preservation Grant program, authorized and funded by the Mississippi Legislature, helps preserve and restore historic courthouses and schools in Certified Local Government communities and other historic properties.

“The Legislature has saved hundreds of significant Mississippi properties through this program,” said MDAH director Katie Blount. “The Department of Archives and History is grateful for the Legislature’s support and pleased to be able to help preserve these local treasures.”

Grant awards are paid on a reimbursable basis upon the successful completion of the entire project or at the time of the completion of pre-established phases of the project.

All of the awarded buildings must have been designated Mississippi Landmarks to be eligible. Only county or municipal governments, school districts and nonprofit organizations granted Section 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status by the Internal Revenue Service may submit applications.

The other grants awarded Friday are as follows:

–Alcorn County Courthouse, Corinth, Alcorn County, awarded $150,000 for courtroom and interior restoration

–Carrollton Water Tower, Carrollton, Carroll County, awarded $47,784 to be repainted

–Chickasaw County Courthouse, Houston, Chickasaw County, awarded $214,690 for window replacement

–Saenger Theater, Hattiesburg, Forrest County, awarded $250,000 for interior restoration

–Holmes County Courthouse, Lexington, Holmes County, awarded $276,630 for second floor courtroom restoration and masonry repointing

–Fulton Grammar School, Fulton, Itawamba County, awarded $93,860 for roof repairs

–Jefferson Davis County Courthouse, Prentiss, Jefferson Davis County, awarded $220,800 for roof repairs

–Madison County Jail (Old), Canton, Madison, awarded $54,456 for roof and interior repairs

–Columbia Waterworks, Columbia, Marion County, awarded $274,027 for ADA restrooms, HVAC and electrical installation and interior paint

— Booker T. Washington School, Philadelphia, Neshoba County, awarded $115,200 for gym floor and bleacher repairs

–Noxubee County Library, Macon, Noxubee County, awarded $80,000 for roof restoration, masonry and plaster repairs

–McCormick Administration Building, Senatobia, Tate County, awarded $264,000 for exterior and window restoration and masonry repairs

–Bowmar Elementary School, Vicksburg, Warren County, awarded $245,395 for exterior repairs

–Warren County Courthouse, Vicksburg, Warren County, awarded $100,000 for overall site drainage repairs and masonry wall stabilization

–Edna M. Scott Elementary, Leland, Washington County, awarded $167,920 for exterior repairs and masonry wall stabilization

–Wilkinson County Courthouse, Woodville, Wilkinson County, awarded $168,000 for clock tower stabilization

–Yalobusha County Courthouse, Water Valley, Yalobusha County, awarded $191,275 for window restoration