Planning Grant for Fire Suppression and Sustainable Preservation at Canterbury Shaker Village

FAIN: PF-280687-21

Canterbury Shaker Village, Inc. (Canterbury, NH 03224-2728)
Martha Werenfels (Project Director: January 2021 to September 2021)
Leslie Nolan (Project Director: September 2021 to present)

A  planning project to assess collections storage buildings and develop strategies for a fire suppression system, as well as to improve environmental conditions for a collection of 100,000 objects, photographs, and manuscripts that document an original late-eighteenth- to nineteenth-century Shaker community.

Canterbury Shaker Village (CVS) will develop sustainable preservation strategies for our 100,000 item collection housed in seven historic buildings. An interdisciplinary team will conduct two studies in order to 1) Assess key collection storage buildings and 2) Determine the need and strategy to install fire suppression systems and improve environmental conditions within the collection storage areas. The external team will include a preservation architect, fire systems consultant, and conservator. CSV’s collections are of national significance as one of the largest and most comprehensive bodies of material remaining in an original Shaker community. Four of the collection storage buildings have no fire suppression systems. Additionally, environmental damage from water and humidity is an increasing concern in all buildings.