The Rasmuson Foundation has awarded the Southeast Alaska State Fair $66,692 for the renovation of Harriett Hall.

“We’re really honored by the Rasmuson Foundation’s Tier Two grant award,” said Kelly Hostetler, fair executive director. “It means the Rasmuson Foundation has confidence in our organization and supports the renovation of Harriett Hall. We’re excited about making the hall a greater asset to the fair and to Haines year-round.”

The foundation announced awards of $5,658,612 to 12 organizations in mid-November.

“Generally, their capital requests over $25,000 are considered Tier Two grants,” said Jessica Edwards, the fair’s assistant director who worked with Hostetler on the grant application. “This is the first Tier Two that we’ve actually received. The fair has received a Tier One grant, which was for $25,000. That was a couple years ago for Dalton City renovations.”

The fair had requested $88,892 from Rasmuson.

“The grant we were requesting was to winterize Harriett Hall and install a commercial kitchen, make the restrooms (Americans with Disabilities Act) accessible, with all these renovations aimed at creating a conference and event facility that could be used year-round,” Edwards said.

She said the fair would look into marketing the approximately 7,000-square-foot Harriett Hall as a convention center.

Sammye Pokryfki, program officer for the Rasmuson Foundation, said no project was fully funded this cycle.

“I realize this is less than you requested and I’m sure in some ways the reduction will be a disappointment,” Pokryfki wrote in an e-mail to Hostetler. “However, the Board’s decisions about funding for all requests reflected the ongoing economic restraints of an endowment that is still recovering.”

Edwards said the total project cost had been estimated at $324,622.

“That number has changed a little bit, because we don’t need a sprinkler system, which we thought we were going to need,” she said.

The Haines Borough has contributed $175,000, and another $40,000 came through in-kind donations from various architects and contractors.

Edwards said some of the work on Harriett Hall would include the demolition of interior walls, framing and cutting new entry doors, and installing insulation, new light fixtures, flooring and commercial kitchen equipment.

“This money from the Rasmuson Foundation allows us to complete the whole renovation project, and that will be done, hopefully, before April,” she said.