Senate Institutions hears plan to allow active fundraising to speed restorations, cites Bennington Monument needs

Senate Institutions — Feb. 4, 2026: State historic‑preservation officials told the Senate Institutions committee they want statutory authority to solicit donations actively and outlined how new and existing grants and private gifts would be applied to major stabilization and restoration projects.

The request, presented by Laura Treisman, State Historic Preservation Officer, and Jamie Dunham, director of preservation at State Historic Sites, came as staff described an extensive list of projects and tight budgets. Treisman said the division can accept gifts and grants today “but we cannot actively solicit for funding,” and urged the committee to let the agency both accept and solicit donations and to specify fundraising projects in statute so public campaigns can be targeted.

Why it matters: Officials said changing the statute would let them hire a fundraising manager, run organized campaigns and engage communities about priorities — tools they say are needed to address large, expensive conservation needs that exceed routine maintenance funding.

Treisman and Dunham singled out the Bennington Battle Monument and several long‑running site projects. Dunham said monitoring and emergency work have continued at Bennington after multi‑year surveys; elevator failures alone cost the site more than $54,000 this season and an earlier engineering estimate discussed in committee materials put restoration work in the multi‑million‑dollar range — “about 40,000,000,” she said when summarizing prior engineer math. Staff told the committee they are pursuing geotechnical and archaeological work this summer to refine designs for a monument enclosure and drying strategy.

Officials noted several funding sources are already in play: a National Park Service emergency stabilization grant, congressionally directed spending (about $500,000 identified in testimony), and a private donor committed to a stabilization project at one nineteenth‑century farmhouse (staff said the donor preferred to remain anonymous). Jamie Dunham said the private gift is restricted to that specific site and that the division is negotiating Park Service approvals where federal grants apply.

Support and safeguards: Treisman described plans for two public engagement meetings to solicit local input on monument plans and said a contracted fundraising manager would help ensure gifts are accepted and used in ways consistent with grant conditions, risk management and community priorities. The division also emphasized it would continue to require local notification and select‑board awareness for projects where applicable.

Next steps: The proposal to allow solicitation is tied to language in the capital bill sections under discussion; committee members did not take a vote at the hearing. Officials said they will circulate more detailed draft statutory language and hold public meetings in the coming months as they develop fundraising plans and designs for large restoration projects.