The Rensselaer County Historical Society in Troy, NY owns a significant early-19th century building, the Hart-Cluett Mansion, which we operate as a historic house museum. Since RCHS acquired the building in 1952, we have not expended any significant amounts of money in the building's maintenance or restoration. We are currently examining the long-term needs of this building, prompted to some extent by a major roof leak that has forced us to close the second floor to visitors. An extensive roof restoration project is slated for this summer, and we are in the midst of raising $100,000 to pay for it. Our architects have worked with us to develop the outline of a renovation/restoration plan for the entire structure that will cost about $1.5 million. Although RCHS has a track record for raising large amounts of money, $1.5 million in one campaign is a real stretch for us. We are a bit unsure of how we move a large project like this forward and we are anxious to talk with other organizations about how they handled the logistics of similar large-scale capital/fundraising projects. -- Anne Ackerson Compuserve 103604,2054