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Industrial Preservation Grants Awarded on June 3, 2005
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Four Industrial Heritage Preservation Grants were awarded at the SIA board meeting in Milwaukee on June 3, 2005. All grant recipients have acquired matching funds to aid their projects. The City of Superior, WI, was awarded $3,000 to help fund a Historic Structures Report (HSR) for the S.S. Meteor, the last remaining of the whaleback freighters. The ship was launched in 1896 and was designed and built by Captain Alexander McDougall. According to the grant application, “the unique design, including a round, cigar-shaped hull and snout-like bow was built for efficiency and stability. In addition, the steel-hulled whalebacks were less expensive to build and operate and carried significantly more cargo than their massive wooden contemporaries.” The HSR will not only provide historic data on the vessel but will evaluate its condition and provide recommendations to restore and preserve the vessel for the long-term. The National Trust for Historic Preservation is a co-sponsor of the project with the city. The Friends of the East Broad Top (EBT) will receive $3,000 to hire an historic architect to assemble materials for a HAER documentation of the EBT Railroad’s Coles Station Water Tank in Huntington County, PA, located within the EBT National Historic Landmark boundary. This water tank is last one of many enclosed water stations that once stood along the EBT line. The water towers, which provided water for the steam locomotives, were enclosed to prevent freezing. The documentation will be submitted to the Library of Congress to be deposited with existing HAER materials on the EBT. The Niagara Power Trail Project, sponsored by the City of Niagara Falls, NY, will use the $3,000 awarded by the SIA to research and produce a National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) Multiple Property Listing for the Niagara Power Trail. Over 100 years of hydro-electric power history occurred in the Niagara Falls area and much of that history can be seen on the landscape. NRHP nominations will be prepared for four individual sites as well. A tour of “Power Trail” will be designed as part of the overall project. National History Day – Alaska was the recipient of $3,000 to aid in the preservation and dissemination of the Kennecott Copper Corporation, Alaska archives. The materials date from circa 1915 – 1937. The National Park Service is a co-sponsor of this project and currently houses the archives in their Alaska Regional Office. The project will organize, catalog, microfilm and provide digital access to the data through a dedicated website. It should be noted that the Grant Committee proposed that grants be awarded just once a year, at the board meeting held in conjunction with the SIA Annual Meeting, generally held in June. The board approved this proposal and an amendment to the grant application guidelines was developed. The deadline for all applications is now 31 March, or the Monday following should the 31st fall on a weekend. All applications must be email or post-marked by that day. A total of $12,000 per year has been earmarked for grants and no more than $3,000 will be awarded per applicant per annum. |