What We Do

HBI Projects

Completed Projects

First Parish Church, Dorchester (1896)

Total Project cost: $467,867.00 The project team selected the contracting company Murphy Specialty (owned by Paul Hardiman) to perform the restoration to their belfry and removal of the lantern section of the steeple. Total HBI investment in project to date: $62,500.

The recently completed study by Pilling+Smith Architects outlines a comprehensive repair campaign of approximately $570,000 and identifies the most critical piece as the reconstruction of the church's tower, its structural problems clearly evidenced by the visible lean to its belfry and watch towers. The estimated cost of this most critical work is in the neighborhood of $200,000, including $10,000 to temporarily stabilize the tower in preparation for the winter. Because of the congregation's commitment and willingness to complete an updated planning study (a key element of HBI's Steeples Project philosophy which so often pays for itself by avoiding haphazard and short-term "band-aid" repairs in favor of long-term solutions) , we were pleased to award them a $30,000 major repair grant. This past year, with the help of a technical assistance grant from Historic Boston's Steeples Project, the church hired an architect to update an older study and prepare a comprehensive assessment of their building.

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