Shaker Village awarded $500,000 NPS grant for barn restoration

PHOTO: Shaker Village’s Brother Arthur Hadd in front of the village’s barns. (Submitted photo)

NEW GLOUCESTER — The National Park Service has awarded Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village a $500,000 grant through the Save America’s Treasures program to help restore the Shaker Barn, which has been central to the Shaker farm for nearly two centuries.
Shaker Village leader Brother Arnold Hadd said,  “We may be best known for our furniture, architecture and craftsmanship, but we self-identify as farmers. We have worked this land since 1783. Farming is a part of our daily routines, it shapes our theology, and is even expressed in our songs.
“It is our life and our lifeline, as it is for so many others. Our barn not only symbolizes who we are and what we do, but also symbolizes, through farming heritage, our shared commonalities with all farmers across the entire Northeast. It represents a harmony between the built environment, the natural world, the animal kingdom and the climate.”
On Sept. 10, the National Park Service in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Institute for Museum and Library Services announced $24.25 million in Save America’s Treasures grants to fund 80 projects in 32 states and the District of Columbia. 
The Shakers and a crew of volunteers had just finished a long, tiring day of hauling and stacking a fresh hay crop into the barn when the award was announced. It was the only National Park Service grant issued to Maine during this cycle.
The project is among 17 organizations nationally that received the maximum grant award of $500,000.