Howard University (DC

Trigg Hall to get $1.49 million renovation

Trigg Hall, an iconic structure on the University of Maryland Eastern Shore’s original campus footprint, has qualified for a $500,000 federal grant to pay for modernization of the seven-decadeold building.

The university received confirmation in August it will receive the money through the ”Historically Black Colleges and Universities grant program funded by the Historic Preservation Fund, which is administered by the U.S. Department of Interior’s National Park Service.”

UMES is one of 20 HBCUs across the country to share some $9.7 million in funding in the latest round of grants from the federal program.

The grant will be combined with $989,020 from academic revenue bonds to pay for “repair or replacement of doors, windows, roof, foundation, floor, siding and all the components such as structural masonry and insulation,” according to Lester Primus, UMES’ vice president of administration and finance. Installation of energy-efficient lighting and updated mechanical heating and cooling systems are also part of the plan. ”As the headquarters for the (university’s) Department of Agriculture, Food and Resource Sciences, Trigg Hall is vital to our core mission of educating the workforce of the future,” said Dr. Moses Kairo, dean of the School of Agricultural and Natural Sciences. ”The proposed upgrades will create an environment conducive to the effective delivery of academic programs. Furthermore, minimizing the frequent failure of critical systems in the building will ensure that research activities proceed without interruption,” Kairo said. “We are truly grateful to the National Park Service for facilitating upgrades to such a beautiful building.”

Trigg Hall is among 13 buildings that define UMES’ historic Academic Oval, which holds National Register of Historic Places status – a well-known U.S. Department of Interior / National Parks Service program.

Here’s an excerpt of how a Department of Interior evaluator described the structure in a 2005 report endorsing the university’s application for historic place status:

“Completed in 1954, Trigg Hall is sited atop an artificial terrace with a bold Ionic (column) portico dominating the center block. (The two-story structure) is spanned by a broad hip roof, covered with slate, with brick chimneys. The roof and portico are enriched with a modillion block cornice. Flanking the main (section) are long twostory, five-bay hip roofed wings finished in similar, but less intricate, Colonial Revival details.”

Projects funded by these grants, the Department of Interior said, will support “the physical preservation of National Register listed sites on HBCU campuses to include historic districts, buildings, sites, structures, and objects.”