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Vermont’s tallest structure is in dire need of repairs, and state officials say it will cost an estimated $40 million to save the Bennington Battle Monument.

The 306-foot-tall monument cost $102,000 to construct in the late 1880s. But the price tag to keep it viable as a historic site � and popular tourist destination � will far exceed that figure, according to Jamie Duggan, director of preservation for Vermont State Historic Sites.

Duggan that the limestone tribute to a famous Revolutionary War battle has been entirely saturated by water. And the damage has compromised both the structural elements and the elevator that takes tourists to the top.

“Calculating the amount of water that could potentially be held within the stone, it’s about 66,000 gallons of water sitting in the monument today, tomorrow and the next day, until something can be done about that,� Duggan said.

The state took over ownership of the building from the Bennington Battle Monument Association in 1953, in part because the organization could no longer keep pace with the cost of upkeep. Decades of deferred maintenance since then, according to Duggan, have exacerbated longstanding problems that often keep the interior of the monument off limits to visitors.

State officials have no current funding plan to pay for even the initial drying out of the monument, which Duggan said could cost as much as $10 million. The longer the state waits to move forward with the project, he said, the higher the cost of total repairs.

Raquel C. Zaldívar

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New England News Collaborative

“Nothing is being done while we’re thinking about how to get some traction in moving forward. And that is going to continue to increase the amount of deterioration as well as increase the costs,� Duggan said. “We have to keep pushing the stone up the hill here, so to speak, to make sure that all the work that we’ve done in the last few years, and all the money we’ve invested in the structure, does not go to waste.�

The state has spent nearly $1 million in recent years to make some repairs and assess the scope of the damage.

Nearly 40,000 people visited the monument in 2024, generating about $276,000 in direct revenue. (That does not include economic activity related to those visits.) Springfield Rep. Alice Emmons, the Democratic chair of the House Committee on Corrections and Institutions, said funding the repairs will be a “heavy lift.� But she said she’s committed to finding a path.

“It’s a very vital part to our Vermont history. It’s vital to our tourist industry,� Emmons said. “And we have to take care of our Bennington monument.�

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Emmons said any viable funding package will involve “partnerships� between the state and federal governments and national and local philanthropic organizations. Local Bennington lawmakers will be working with members of Vermont’s federal delegation in the coming weeks to explore avenues for federal aid.

Laura Trieschmann, Vermont’s historic preservation officer, said that if the state can marshal the needed resources for the project, then the monument will enjoy a long life in Bennington.

“If we do this correctly,� Trieschmann told lawmakers, “we’re looking at another 100 years of this being a really good solid monument before it might need another checkup.�

More from Vermont Edition: Examining the Battle of Bennington through history � and music

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