20 projects win $1.94M in State Preservation Grants

PROVIDENCE – Twenty museums, cultural art centers and public historic sites have been awarded preservation grants totaling $1.94 million by the R.I. Historical Preservation & Heritage Commission.
The awards were announced by Lt. Gov. Elizabeth H. Roberts in a ceremony Friday at Roger Williams Park’s Museum of Natural History and Planetarium – the target of one of the 2007 State Preservation Grants.
Guests were invited to tour the facility by museum director Renee Gamba and Providence Parks Department Supt. Alix Ogden. Founded in 1896, it is the state’s only natural history museum and its only planetarium. The museum will receive $9,166 toward the $13,750 restoration of decorative plaster work in its Chateauesque building, which was designed by Martin & Hall and constructed in two stages, from 1894 to 1895 and 1915 to 1916.
Roberts and Providence Mayor David N. Cicilline both spoke of the economic stimulus that historic preservation can provide – including, the lieutenant governor said, the creation of a skilled work force of preservation professionals.
The mayor pointed out that, over the past five years, the capital city has received nearly $1.2 million in State Preservation Grants for 20 projects. Past recipients have ranged from downtown arts destinations AS220 / Perishable Theatre, Trinity Repertory Company and the Providence Performing Arts Center to neighborhood centers of arts and education including the CityArts / CVS Highlander High School in South Providence and Cottage C on the Rhode Island College campus. Besides the museum restoration, this year’s grants will support work at two other Providence sites: John Brown House and Ladd Observatory.
The capital city also will be the site of the 23rd Annual Rhode Island Statewide Historic Preservation Conference, which will be held in Providence on Saturday, April 12. The conference will celebrate the 40th anniversary of the R.I. Historical Preservation & Heritage Commission and showcase recent projects across the city, Cicilline said.
Rep. John Patrick Shanley Jr. of South Kingstown also was on hand to celebrate the awarding of grants to projects in his home town, toward the restoration of the piazzas at Edward Everett Hale House in Matunuck and the repair of the Reynolds House (also known as Tavern Hall) in Kingston Village.
But every city and town in Rhode Island has historic sites that are open to the public as museums, cultural arts centers or civic meeting places, and many are in need of preservation, Edward F. Sanderson, the Historical Preservation & Heritage Commission’s executive director, reminded the audience. This year, 36 projects applied for commission funds. Twenty projects in 13 cities were awarded grants, for projects with a total value of nearly $4.60 million.
The R.I. Historical Preservation & Heritage Commission – the state office for historic preservation – is responsible for administering the State Preservation Grant Program and reviewing and submitting nominations to the National Register of Historic Properties. Additional information, including a full list of the Dec. 7 grants and their recipients, is available at www.preservation.ri.gov.