December 19, 2002
Heritage Foundation awarded $100,000 grant for Belfry renovation
by Shea Stewart
The Oxford EAGLE
The Oxford-Lafayette County Heritage Foundation has been
awarded a $100,000 grant from the Community Heritage Preservation
Grant Program to help restore and renovate the Belfry building.
The award announced yesterday by the board of trustees of the
Mississippi Department of Archives and History is part of more than
$5 million funded by the 2002 Legislature to 31 applicants. The
program helps with the preservation, restoration and development of
historic courthouses and schools, and in Certified Local Government
communities, such as Oxford, with other historic properties.
Author John Grisham donated the building at 710 Jackson Ave.
to the Heritage Foundation in September. The foundation plans to give
the building to the Oxford Development Association, an
African-American community organization, once the association
receives its tax-exempt status.
"This (grant) will help to stabilize the building," said
Maralyn Bullion, president of Heritage Foundation. "The building is
important to Oxford. It was very close to being demolished and
developed."
MDAH, directed by the Legislature to review and evaluate the
grant applications, received 73 applications requesting more than $22
million.
The steering committee of the Heritage Foundation had sought
a $500,000 grant for the restoration of the building, but now will
concentrate on other avenues to raise funds.
"We are fund raising on our own also," Bullion said. "We are
sending out letters to members of the Heritage Foundation and friends
asking for donations."
Built in 1910 as Burns Methodist Episcopal Church, it rests
on the site where ex-slaves first built their own house of worship,
organized in 1869 as Sewell Methodist Church. Their descendants in
the Burns congregation worshiped at that site until 1973, when space
constraints prompted a move to a bigger building on Molly Barr Road.
The Belfry was then sold and converted to office space.
Grisham purchased it in 1993 to use it as his Oxford office and
intended to renovate it but decided against it.
With a prime location just steps from the Oxford Square, the
property was attractive to developers who were eager to take the
Belfry off his hands. But soon Grisham and the Heritage Foundation, a
nonprofit group dedicated to the preservation, restoration and
stewardship of local historical assets like the Belfry, were
negotiating the transfer of the building. The deed transferring the
property to the foundation was signed by Grisham on Aug. 22.
Founded in 1970 by the Rev. Wayne Johnson, the 200-member ODA
serves as a network of support and encouragement within the black
community. The ODA plans to use the Belfry as its base of operations.
The building is listed on the National Register of Historical
Places, and all buildings must have been designated Mississippi
Landmarks prior to application to be eligible for the grants.
The grant awards will be paid to the grantee 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. Applicants receiving grant awards are required to cover
all project costs prior to receiving reimbursements. A cash match of
at least 20 percent must be provided.
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. In reviewing
and evaluating the grants, the Board of Trustees of MDAH attempted to
balance the geographical distribution of grant awards.
"We are delighted with the response to this very popular
program, which will enable the preservation of some of the most
significant historic buildings in the state," MDAH Director Elbert R.
Hilliard said. "We are grateful to the Mississippi Legislature for
funding this important program for a second year. We regret we could
not have funded more of these worthy projects."
Other area awards include $185,000 to the Marshall County
Board of Supervisors for exterior stabilization and structural
repairs to the Marshall County Museum in Holly Springs, $450,000 to
the South Panola School District for roof and interior repairs on the
Old Batesville Elementary School and $200,000 to the Pontotoc County
Board of Supervisors for the interior restoration of the Pontotoc
County Courthouse.
Oxford EAGLE Staff Writer Lucy Schultze contributed to this report.