WASHINGTON – The National Park Service (NPS), in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS), today announced $25.7 million in Save America’s Treasures grants from the Historic Preservation Fund. The funding announced today will support 58 projects in 26 states, the Virgin Islands and the District of Columbia that will preserve nationally significant sites and collections.
“These grants preserve and conserve nationally significant properties and collections to tell a more complete story of America and its people,” said NPS Director Chuck Sams. “Preserving these historic places and collections ensures the generations of today and tomorrow can enjoy and learn from the diverse stories across time and place in America’s history.”
Save America’s Treasures requires applicants to match the grant money dollar-for-dollar with nonfederal funding. This award of $25,750,000 million will leverage almost $60 million in private and public investment. Buildings and collections that have previously received Save America’s Treasures grants are not eligible to receive a second grant for the same project.
Examples of the awarded grants include:
- The University of California, Berkeley’s Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive will undertake a conservation project for approximately 1,800 quilts, pieced fragments and textile object in its African American quilts collection, made by more than 500 individual quilters and nine intergenerational families. Conservation work will include treatments to remove microbial, mold and insect infestations, careful cleaning and rehousing of objects. The grantee is matching with $460,000.
- The Door County Maritime Museum in Wisconsin will restore the historic tugboat, John Purves, in its collection. Built in 1919, the John Purves served the United States military in the aftermath of World War I and during World War II. For the restoration, the tugboat will be dry-docked and undergo extensive repairs to mitigate damages affecting the integrity of the hull. The grantee is matching with almost $200,000.
- The Chilkoot Indian Association in Alaska will stabilize and rehabilitate the Noow Hit Tribal House, the last remaining Tlingit traditional structure constructed in the Chilkat Valley, using traditional Northern Tlingit post and beam building techniques. The grantee is matching with $755,272.
Established in 1977 and authorized at $150 million per year through 2023, the Historic Preservation Fund has provided more than $2 billion in historic preservation grants to states, Tribes, local governments and non-profit organizations. Administered by the NPS, Congress appropriates from the HPF to support a variety of historic preservation projects to help preserve the nation’s cultural resources and history.