Deerfield panel votes 7-0 on painting restoration
Other Committee · Meeting of January 28, 2026
Deerfield preservation panel backs $5,000 for historic painting, tables cemetery grant. The Community Preservation Committee voted 7-0 to recommend a $5,000 Community Preservation Act grant toward a roughly $55,000 project to restore a historic painting and move it to the Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, with Chris Harris of Friends of Deerfield saying the group "will not start this or do this unless we have everything." Members required the painting stay owned by a Deerfield nonprofit with guaranteed resident access. The committee tabled Ben Benson's Mill River Cemetery preservation request pending revised language on historic significance, and postponed deed-restriction terms tied to an engineering study on the town-owned 1821 building after members disputed whether the requirement even applies.
The committee next meets February 18.
In the full story:
- The complete report — 901 words
Source: the Other Committee meeting of January 28, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.
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