NASHUA — Roughly a dozen years after the Hunt Memorial Building underwent a sweeping $1.2 million renovation to its interior, the city has been chosen the recipient of a federal grant that will fund much-needed repairs to areas affected by window leakage.
City officials learned recently that the National Park Service, through its Save America’s Treasures program, pledged $485,000 in congressionally directed spending to fund the Hunt Building’s newest round of repairs and restorative work, according to city Economic Development Director Liz Hannum.
At 120 years old, the Hunt Building is one of Nashua’s most prominent historical treasures.
To be eligible for the grant, a property must be listed on the National Register of Historic Places or designated a National Historic Landmark. The Hunt Building was named to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971 and, in 1973, was declared a National Historic site, mainly for its unique Elizabethan Gothic architecture.
The grant is both important and timely, allowing the city to “protect the integrity and longevity of the interior renovations” that were done in 2011-12 under then-Mayor Donnalee Lozeau, according to the website of Cram and Ferguson Architects, the architectural and historic preservation firm based in Concord, Mass.
Notably, the Hunt Building’s upcoming repairs and restoration will be done by representatives of Cram and Ferguson, today’s version of the firm that noted architect Ralph Adams Cram founded in 1889 — and who designed the original Hunt Building that opened in 1903 as the Hunt Memorial Library.
“We’re pleased that Cram and Ferguson will retain the integrity of the original design and features as the necessary repairs are completed,” Hannum said. Their work will include “faithfully replicating the original Gothic wooden tracery around the windows,” she added.
“As we build, expand and develop Nashua, it’s important to protect and preserve our historic past,” Hannum said.
Mayor Jim Donchess called the awarding of the grant “a great win for the city,” and praised the work of staff members “who pursued and secured this grant.”
Since its grand opening in 1903, the Hunt Building “has been a part of life here in Nashua for many generations ... first as a library and now as a creative space and event center,” Donchess said.
“These needed repairs will allow us all to enjoy the Hunt Building for many years to come.”
Historically, the idea for a new library building for Nashua was brought by well-to-do Nashuans Mary A. and Mary E. Hunt, as a memorial to John M. Hunt, their late husband and father, respectively.
In March 1901, the women donated $50,000 for the project, which involved moving the large, multi-use building owned by the Greeley family that sat on the land earmarked for the library.
But the path from idea to land acquisition to grand opening was not always smooth. Some residents opposed the choice of location for a variety of reasons, the most common of which was their claim it should be more centrally located.
The controversy eventually landed in the courts, which irritated the Hunt women to the point they nearly withdrew their proposal — and their $50,000 donation.
The project nevertheless moved forward, but it took 2½ years before the new library named for John Hunt would host a grand opening in the fall of 1903.
The handsome structure served as the city’s library for nearly seven decades, until lack of space and infrastructure concerns prompted city officials to consider a new library.
Despite then-Mayor Dennis J. Sullivan’s decision to veto well-known Nashua resident Eliot Carter’s donation — a gift that would cover the construction of a new library at 2 Court St. — the project nevertheless moved forward, and a grand opening was held in 1971.
