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| Mrs. Laura Bush is the Honorary Chair of Preserve America, a White House initiative that encourages and supports community efforts to preserve and enjoy our nation's cultural and natural heritage. On September 27, 2007, Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne announced the latest Preserve America grants totalling more than $2.2 million. For more information see www.PreserveAmerica.gov. White House Photo July 2007 by Shealah Craighead. Hi-Res. |
WASHINGTON, D.C.--Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne today announced the final round of Preserve America grants for Fiscal Year 2007, totaling more than $2.2 million. Close to $5 million has been distributed in 2007.
Mrs. Laura Bush is the Honorary Chair of Preserve America, a White House initiative that encourages and supports community efforts to preserve and enjoy our nation's cultural and natural heritage.
“In communities across the United States, federal preservation efforts are restoring citizens' pride in their communities, and safeguarding our national treasures,” said Mrs. Bush. “With this designation, Preserve America recognizes 29 communities that use their historic assets to educate visitors and local residents about their towns’ important links to our nation's past.”
The Preserve America grant program, administered by the Department of the Interior's National Park Service in partnership with the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, offers matching grants. These competitive dollar-for-dollar grants fund designated Preserve America Communities, State Historic Preservation Offices and Tribal Historic Preservation Offices to support preservation efforts through heritage tourism, education and historic preservation planning.
Through these projects, citizens and visitors alike gain a greater shared knowledge about the nation's past. The grants strengthen regional identities and local pride, increase local participation in preserving the country's cultural and natural heritage assets, and help support the economic vitality of our communities.
Secretary Kempthorne congratulated the 29 recipients of Preserve America grants (see attached list). The final 2007 round of Preserve America grants provided $2.26 million for projects in 20 states representing all regions of the country. New in 2006, this grant program provides funds on a matching basis to assist Preserve America communities with marketing, planning and educational efforts associated with protection and appropriate use of community heritage. In all, 140 projects will have been awarded $9.8 million since 2006.
"These Preserve America grants augment the historic preservation goals of the nation by helping communities to preserve their history, culture and natural settings and to tell their stories,” said Secretary Kempthorne. “As more Americans discover and participate in heritage tourism, a community’s past history can become an economic engine for its future success.”
“Historic preservation, like our nation, is more than the sum of its parts—and the parts that comprise historic preservation include economic development, urban revitalization, unparalleled opportunity for learning, environmental benefits including energy conservation, building a better-integrated society, and improved citizenship,” said John L. Nau, III, chairman of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation. “These Preserve America grants help make historic preservation efforts self-sustaining for communities, tribes and states.”
More information on Preserve America, including a complete list of grant recipients, criteria and application forms for various initiative programs, can be found at www.PreserveAmerica.gov
Preserve America Proposed Projects
FY07 Round 2
(by state)
Planning for Preservation and Heritage Tourism in Arkansas
Little Rock, Arkansas
$150,000
The State Historic Preservation Office will award subgrants to city and county governments that hold both Certified Local Government and Preserve America designations to develop local heritage tourism and preservation plans.
Santa Monica Pier “100 Years in the Past, 100 Years in the Future”
Santa Monica, California
$100,000
Santa Monica will promote the historic and cultural value of the Santa Monica Pier through a yearlong celebration and marketing campaign. The project works towards the goal of enriching the heritage tourism experience of visitors and provoking a deeper respect for the integral importance of the pier.
Weaverville Marketing and Way-finding Project
Weaverville, California
$28,754
This heritage marketing project works to promote local heritage festivals, advertise local museum exhibits, and develop and implement way-finding and identity-building elements specified in the Weaverville Revitalization Plan.
Baca County Rural Resources Survey
Baca County, Colorado
$25,000
The survey will document the historic resources of Baca County in an effort to better promote heritage tourism and awareness of these resources.
Heritage Wayfinding Signage, Informational Kiosk and Walking Tour Brochure for the Historic Main Street District
Fayetteville, Georgia
$31,000
This interpretive project will promote heritage tourism efforts and help identify the historical and cultural resources located within the historic main street district of Fayetteville, Georgia.
Celebrating 200 Years of History: Madison Bicentennial Heritage Program
Madison, Georgia
$34,458
The Madison Bicentennial Heritage Program will illuminate Madison, Georgia’s diverse history and provide permanent interpretive information for the physical representations of the town’s past.
Mines of Spain Exhibit and Education Program
Dubuque, Iowa
$150,000
This project strives to increase visitation, enhance interpretation, expand educational opportunities, and build partnerships within the Mines of Spain National Historic Landmark.
Santa Fe Passenger and Freight Complex Re-use and Restoration Planning
Fort Madison, Iowa
$20,000
The Santa Fe Passenger and Freight Complex Re-use and Restoration planning project will produce long and short term plans for the site. The vision is for the depot to house interpretive information on local railroad history while allocating space for the Railway Express Office.
Fort Hays State Historic Site Guardhouse Interpretive Exhibits
Topeka, Kansas
$114,866
The State Historic Preservation Office will work to fabricate interpretive exhibits that will detail the history of Fort Hays from 1865 to 1889. The exhibits will be targeted to engage heritage tourists, school groups and others interested in the fascinating history of the fort.
Information Signage, Kiosks, and Wayfinding for Burlington Historic District
Burlington, Kentucky
$22,500
The Burlington Historic District project will work to install plaques, wayfinding signs, and an informational kiosk describing historic buildings and sites in an effort to create a greater awareness of heritage tourism within the district.
Discover Landmark Covington! Cultural Heritage Tourism Program
Covington, Kentucky
$130,000
The goal of this project is to produce urban walking and driving cultural heritage tours that will help preserve, enhance, and promote the rich cultural assets of Covington.
Rural Heritage Development Initiative Preserve America Sub-Grant Program
Frankfort, Kentucky
$80,000
The State Historic Preservation Office will subgrant funds to market heritage tourism information and develop heritage tourism education materials and/or National Register nominations based on current survey work of three counties in Kentucky involved in the Rural Heritage Development Initiative.
Thurgood Marshall’s First Public School
Baltimore, Maryland
$100,000
The City of Baltimore will work to complete the research and documentation necessary to prepare and fabricate interpretive exhibits at the Henry Highland Garnett School that will illuminate the years in which Thurgood Marshall, the country’s first African American Supreme Court Justice, was educated. The exhibits will help to detail the school’s segregated past as well as the rich cultural heritage of the Upton community of Baltimore City.
Maryland Heritage Areas Program Strategic Plan
Crownsville, Maryland
$75,000
The State Historic Preservation Office will work to strengthen their State heritage areas program through the creation of a strategic plan which will enable them to better serve the heritage areas as well as identify short, mid, and long-term goals for the State of Maryland’s heritage tourism endeavors.
Frederick Visitors Center Exhibit and Heritage Trail
Frederick, Maryland
$150,000
The City of Frederick will use grant funds to develop a comprehensive interpretive program for the Frederick Visitors Center and heritage trail markers along pedestrian pathways leading into downtown Frederick.
Lowell Cultural Heritage Branding Project
Lowell, Massachusetts
$75,000
The Cultural Organization of Lowell, along with their partner organizations, will develop a cultural marketing strategy and implementation plan that will help to brand Greater Lowell as a unique hub of cultural and heritage activity.
Condition Assessment and Preservation Plan – Stone Arch Bridge Keene, NH
Keene, New Hampshire
$25,000
This project will result in a condition assessment and preservation plan for the Cheshire Railroad Stone Arch Bridge in Keene, New Hampshire, which will be used to preserve the bridge and assist the community in promoting its heritage tourism plans that are oriented toward railroad history.
City of Beacon Heritage Tourism and Way-finding Project
Beacon, New York
$46,775
The focus of this project is to inform visitors of historic and cultural resources through the development of a variety of informational and educational materials. Additionally, funds benefit a major statewide celebration of the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson’s voyage along the river that bears his name.
Historic Village Center Pedestrian Way
Southampton, New York
$63,500
The City of Southampton will develop a pedestrian plan for the Historic Village Center that ensures that pedestrian infrastructure and open spaces will be incorporated into the built environment and that future development in this area is in-line with the small scale and historic character of the Village.
Rural Heritage Resources Survey: Northampton, Hertford, Bertie, and Beaufort Counties
Raleigh, North Carolina
$75,000
This project will facilitate the State Historic Preservation Office compilation of comprehensive survey data for rural counties in eastern North Carolina, resulting in survey coverage and public awareness of these underserved counties rich in history and resources.
Explore the Heritage of Pennsylvania’s Washington County
Washington, Pennsylvania
$120,000
The project will help to develop a marketing strategy geared towards improving and advancing heritage tourism efforts in the Washington County.
Broad Street Regeneration Initiative in Pawtucket, Cumberland and Central Falls, Rhode Island
Pawtucket, Cumberland, and Central Falls, Rhode Island
$50,000
This project will help three Preserve America communities produce sustainable development principles in an effort to support heritage tourism in the region.
The South Carolina Preserve America Initiative
Columbia, South Carolina
$150,000
The South Carolina State Historic Preservation Office will subgrant Preserve America funds, as matching grants of $20,000 or less, to smaller cities and towns across the state to assist them in the study, use, protection and promotion of their historic and cultural resources.
Heritage Trails of Bastrop, Texas
Bastrop, Texas
$70,000
The City of Bastrop, part of the newly designated federal trail El Camino Real de los Tejas, will collaborate with local partners to promote awareness of the cultural, historical and natural resources and experiences that are available to visitors.
Barn Census Project
Montpelier, Vermont
$150,000
This survey project will develop a methodology, collect data, purchase storage systems, and recruit and train volunteers to conduct a survey of barns in Vermont. Information collected will result in a greater understanding of the number of, and condition of, these structures.
4th Avenue Cultural Corridor Project
Edmonds, Washington
$50,000
The City of Edmonds will create a plan to advance economic development and cultural tourism within the historic downtown. The main focus of the project is the development of a plan to create a “Cultural Corridor” along a section of 4th Avenue, connecting the core downtown retail area to the newly opened performing arts center.
Marketing our Heritage through Collaborative Partnerships
Vancouver, Washington
$50,000
This marketing project will result in the development of strategies and tools to promote the Vancouver National Historic Reserve (including Officer’s Row, Fort Vancouver National Historic Site, Pearson Airfield, Vancouver Barracks, and the Columbia River Waterfront) to a larger regional and national audience.
West Virginia Thematic Tours
Charleston, West Virginia
$100,000
The State Historic Preservation Office will develop statewide thematic tours to encourage heritage tourism in communities based on specific historic theme topics. The goal of the project will be to provide a state model for creating thematic tours within West Virginia.
Bringing Back History: Mineral Point Municipal Building Historic Structures Report
Mineral Point, Wisconsin
$25,000
This survey project will go toward the production of a Historic Structures Report for the Mineral Point Municipal Building. This, in turn, will be used to guide the restoration and renovation of the building for use as a central point for tourist information, theater performances and conferences.