Smith Chapel Application for Use

The Hamilton Smith Memorial Chapel is available for use for weddings, and for appropriate community, historical or religious events.  Applications to use the Chapel are submitted on the standard Durham Special Event/Road Closure/Use of Town Property Permit Application.  A link to this form is provided on the Durham Public Works website.  Or the form can be downloaded from the Forms menu on the front page of Town website (http://www.ci.durham.nh.us), or picked up/mailed from Durham Public Works, 100 Stone Quarry Drive, Durham, NH 03824 (Tel 868-5578).

The downloaded/received Permit Application includes the General Use Policy For Town Facilities, which applies to use of the Chapel.  As listed in Item 2 of the policy, completed applications for use of the Chapel must be received at Public Works a minimum of four weeks prior to the date of use. 

In addition to the refundable fee listed in Item 7 of the policy, there is a fee charged for the use of the Chapel.  The fee for Durham residents is $50.00, and for non-residents is $250.00.  The proceeds of this fee are divided between the Chapel’s permanent endowment (35%) and the Chapel’s maintenance fund (65%), both of which are managed by the Trustees of the Trust Funds.  These funds are used for the maintenance and operation of the Chapel, which is not supported by the Town’s General Fund.  Please Note: The Town makes efforts to maintain the Chapel in an orderly and clean condition however, the aforementioned fee does not include cleaning for a specific rental event.  Following an in-person visit to the site, if the applicant desires additional cleaning, event cleaning services can be coordinated with Durham Public Works, to be paid by the applicant.  Applicants for use of the chapel should add the following statement at the bottom of the application form:  “A check made out to ‘Town of Durham Trustees of Trust Funds’ in the amount of $50 (or $250 for non-residents) for use of the Chapel is attached to this application.”