2 days ago
Market House gets its doors
Thanks to a $44,000 grant award announced in the midst of the 155th anniversary of its construction, the Meadville Market House will soon be in the market for new doors.
The current doors don't date back to the time of its construction in 1870, but they are believed to be more than 50 years old, according to Ashley Mattocks-Rose, who chairs the authority that oversees the Market House.
'We couldn't be more excited about it — new roof, new doors,' Mattocks Rose said in a phone interview Friday, recalling another grant announced in April that will provide $560,000 in funding for roof upgrades at the historic structure. 'We just really feel like we've got great momentum right now. It's a really exciting time for Meadville in general and for what the Market House means to Meadville.'
The grant to the Market House was among 37 awards announced Thursday by the Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission (PHMC). The recipients were selected from a competitive pool of 114 applicants. Each award requires a local match equal to the amount of the grant, according to the announcement.
Other recipients in the state's northwestern region included the Erie County historical society, which received $100,000 to repair 96 original wood-framed windows in the historic Watson-Curtze mansion. Venango County will receive $100,000 to replace its courthouse roof. Built in 1868, the building's slate roof is believed to date to approximately 1905. The Oil City Civic Center will receive $15,000 for a new security camera system
"We are pleased to support these important projects from across the Commonwealth," said Andrea Lowery, PHMC executive director. "It is rewarding to impact communities in 15 counties. The selected projects beautifully showcase what historic resources Pennsylvanians value – from cornerstone buildings in their downtowns, like a historic market house and a significant industrial complex, to an historic barn. This investment ensures that Pennsylvania's cultural memory will be preserved for future generations."
The Market House grant will be supplemented in part with about $15,000 raised through the facility's 2024 Crawford Gives campaign, which specifically highlighted the need for new doors, according to Mattocks-Rose. The Market Authority kicked off the campaign with a parody music video featuring Mattocks-Rose and friend Austin Kulyk. The video, which amassed 10,000 views in less than 24 hours, featured the two singers seated in the building's seated in the main market space with a Market House-themed takeoff of the song 'Love is an Open Door' from the Disney musical 'Frozen.'
'We really need new doors,' the duo sang in the video, which is no longer available on the Market House Facebook page. 'Help us replace our doooooors — historically accurate doors.'
Mattocks-Rose said she didn't think the video was part of the authority's grant application, but said another video would likely be part of the strategy for the 2025 Crawford Gives event later this summer.
The high cost of replacing the doors results from the need for custom fabrication of doors that are both historically appropriate and secure. Mattocks-Rose said a handicapped accessible entrance is also being considered for the building's northwest corner. A timeline for construction has not yet been determined.
The building's 155-year history is the result of extended collective effort, according to Mattock-Rose, and the impending investments in the structure could set the stage for improvements in programming.
'It feels like now is the time to really just ramp this building up,' she said. 'Our job is to make sure that it's open for another 155 years.'
