COLUMBUS, Ind. — The fundraising campaign for the iconic First Christian Church tower restoration has landed its second half-million-dollar grant in 10 months — and a renewed kickoff for the public financial campaign begins at an event Wednesday at the church.
Organizers have made clear that the campaign needs much more support within the next few months.
The overall effort to repair numerous cracks in the 79-year-old Eliel Saarinen-designed tower is expected to cost $2.4 million. In October 2018, a team of inspectors found significant cracks in the mortar joints of the 166-foot-tall tower.
The campaign’s previous $500,000 in August came from from the National Park Service’s Save America’s Treasures program.
Now the Jeffris Family Foundation has awarded a $500,000 Challenge Grant to the Friends of First Christian Church Architecture, a group that is administered by Heritage Fund — The Community Foundation of Bartholomew County, to support the restoration of the church’s iconic clock tower.
The Jeffris Family Foundation Challenge Grant provides a $1 match for every $2 that is pledged to the project. The grant is designed to spur an additional $1 million in private gifts and pledges toward the tower’s restoration. The Jeffris Family Foundation is based in Janesville, Wisconsin, and focuses on projects of national significance in smaller communities in the Midwest.
“We carefully select National Historic Landmarks as foundation projects,” said Thomas Jeffris, foundation president.
Its first grant was in 1994. This is the eleventh. First Christian became a National Historic Landmark in 2001.
For the complete story, see Tuesday’s Republic.
