$225,000 fundraising campaign to save chapel at Mount Albion off to good start
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – Susan Starkweather Miller and Tim Archer are shown at Mount Albion Cemetery by a sign showing progress towards raising $225,000 to repair the chapel’s roof and make the site safe to be used by the public again.
Albion eighth-graders made the sign showing the fundraising progress. More sections of the window need to be filled in because donations are currently at $140,000.
The chapel was built in 1875 and needs significant repairs to the roof and other improvements. The chapel is the focal point for visitors to the cemetery who enter through the main entrance through the sandstone arch.
The chapel remains structurally sound, but it needs a new Vermont slate roof. The roof has leaked causing other problems.
“It’s worthy of saving,” said Starkweather Miller, the village historian. “I believe in our community and there is a lot of love for Mount Albion.”
If the chapel is restored, she said the building could again be used for memorial services, local history talks and other events.
The roof has leaked in the chapel. The fundraising campaign will address the interior problems with the building, as well as putting on a new roof.
The $225,000 would restore the chapel with the following improvements:
- A new roof with Vermont slate matching the original design
- Asbestos abatement on the roof
- Repointing on the entire building
- Interior replastering of the north wall
- Electrical upgrades (wiring, outlets, internal and external lighting
- Heating unit for seasonal use
- Ceiling tile removal and repair of plaster and vaulted ceiling
- Remove old floor, repair subfloor and put in a new floor
- Refurbish exterior doors and window trim
A committee has been working about a year to identify the needs of the chapel and to start raising funds for the restoration. That group includes Starkweather Miller, Archer, David Snell, Toni Stark and Tony Wynn.
The Orleans County Historical Association, led by President Bill Lattin, also is helping with the fundraising. That group is a 501c3 organization and all donations can be tax deductible. Click here for more information about making a donation.
The fundraising received a major donation recently with $100,000 from George B. Harris. His grandfather, George D. Harris, was a prominent contractor in the community. George B. now lives in Washington state but continues to have a love for the Albion community, Starkweather Miller said.
Sue Starkweather Miller during a cemetery tour last August at Mount Albion discusses the life of George D. Harris, a prominent local builder and contractor. His office was on the canal. He died in 1918 at the age of 50.
The painting is by Peter West, who gave it to Harris in exchange for work. The rod and reel in the painting were owned by Harris. Three of Harris’s granddaughters attended the tour, and his grandson listened by speaker phone.
As a contractor Harris built many new homes in Albion and redesigned others, including the former Swan Library, the Trolley Depot next to Swan Library, Jacob Landauer’s home on West State Street, the Baptist Parsonage, remodeled the Citizen’s National Bank, remodeled the Village Hall, built the Arnold Gregory Memorial Hospital and built a high school at the two bridges in Carlton which has since been demolished.
The chapel restoration also has received a $10,000 donation from the DAR, and significant contributions from the Keeler family and Dale Blissett.
There will be a tour of Mount Albion at 6 p.m. on Aug. 3 with a focus on some of the pioneer settlers of the community as part of a celebration of Orleans County’s Bicentennial.
