Mathias Ham house in Dubuque receives grant for major renovations

DUBUQUE, Iowa (KCRG) – The Dubuque County Historical Society (DCHS) has received a challenge grant of $ 270,000 to carry out major renovations to the Mathias Ham House.

The grant comes from the Jeffris Foundation and requires DCHS to raise a corresponding amount of $ 540,000 by 2024. Erin Dragotto, vice president of development at DCHS, said the money would be used for internal and external renovations. . These renovations include woodworking, painting and flooring.

“We can’t let in natural light,†Dragotto said. “The reason is that we don’t have UV protection on the windows, but to restore windows properly, we have to do it through a conservation method, and we would like to open the shutters, so it’s through Grant that we can do a lot of these different projects.

Dragotto said the renovations were long overdue.

“The house has never actually been repaired to this magnitude, so like any other house, you have some general maintenance to do,†she explained. “But in a house like this, so big, you know, it’s been over a hundred years, we have to really pay attention to the details and really bring it back to what it was.”

Construction of the site’s accessible trails will begin this fall.

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