Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission Awards 47 Keystone Historic Preservation Grants

Harrisburg, PA — The Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission (PHMC) has awarded $2.6 million in Keystone Historic Preservation Grants to assist historical and heritage organizations, museums and local governments in 20 counties.

PHMC awarded 47 grants selected from 93 eligible applications. Grant amounts ranged from $5,000 to $25,000 for project grants and $5,000 to $100,000 for construction projects. All grants require a 50/50 cash match and were awarded through a competitive selection process.

”We are pleased to support these important projects from across the commonwealth. It is rewarding to impact communities in 20 different counties,” said PHMC Executive Director Andrea Lowery. ”The selected projects represent the breadth of historic resources that Pennsylvanians value — from a grant to the Presque Isle Light Station in Erie County to improve their interpretation, to funding the restoration of the historically significant Byberry Hall in Philadelphia, to a grant to Somerset County for the rehabilitation of the Bollman Bridge, now a component of the Great Allegheny Passage Trail, showing the intersection of historic preservation and recreation. This investment ensures that Pennsylvania's cultural memory will be preserved for future generations.”

Keystone Historic Preservation Grants provide funding to support projects that identify, preserve, promote and protect historic and archaeological resources in Pennsylvania for both the benefit of the public and the revitalization of communities. Funding also supports municipal planning initiatives that focus on historic resources, or it may be used to meet building or community-specific planning goals. The program also supports construction activities at resources listed in or eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. 

These grants receive funding from the Keystone Recreation, Park & Conservation Fund. This fund is supported annually from a portion of the state realty transfer tax revenue.

Beaver County Awards
New Brighton Historical Society
Senate District S047
House District H010
Grant Award: $39,083

The Irish-Townsend House’s front porch is in disrepair and suffers from numerous alterations, 25% of the original façade had been replaced badly, the remaining original façade is rotted out and pulling away from the house; coffered ceilings were replaced by wood decking; the original ionic columns were replaced with aluminum and the wood flooring was changed to concrete. It has been determined that this be the first construction project because of its high visibility to the town below the house.

A view of the ITH front porch in its current state