The Tower & CPA
The Community Preservation Act (CPA) is a smart growth tool that helps communities preserve open space and historic sites, create affordable housing, and develop outdoor recreational facilities. Grace church is requesting CPA funds to help partially fund the preservation of its landmark tower in Newton Corner.
The Community Preservation Act provides local and state funds for affordable housing, historic resources, open space and recreation land. At their October 28, 2020 meeting, the Newton Community Preservation Committee (CPC) voted to recommend $1.433M for CPA Funds appropriation from the City of Newton. That recommendation was granted final approval by the City Council in August of 2021. Grace’s proposed project to restore the tower is the first from a religious organization to be accepted for consideration by the Newton CPC.
“Principle I: Identify historic places, both architectural and natural, that give the community its special character and that can aid its future well-being.”
Designed by Alexander Rice Esty in 1872, Grace Episcopal Church is Newton’s oldest standing stone church, and the defining architectural feature of Newton Corner and the Farlow and Kenrick Parks National Register Historic District (NRHP). Grace is requesting historic resource funding from the Newton Community Preservation Program for direct costs related to the stabilization and preservation of its endangered tower; a “local landmark” of “outstanding architectural quality” (Newton Historic Commission NRHP Nomination, 1982). The incorporated Grace Church body finds the preservation of the tower to be a fundamentally secular endeavor unrelated to its mission, that the tower is intrinsically not private, and its preservation is in the public interest. Community Preservation Act funds are sought to preserve a resource and landmark of this historic district, responding to Newton residents’ desire to preserve “places of worship [that] help to define Newton’s villages and neighborhoods” (Heritage Landscape Report for Newton, 2010).