The Preservation League of New York State announced three grants to Western New York organizations at a luncheon on Friday at the Buffalo Niagara Convention Center. The lunch was part of the Preservation Plus Conference presented by Preservation Buffalo Niagara.
This is the first time in the Preserve New York program's history that three projects in one county will receive a grant award in a single year. The recipients are all cultural institutions, and the grants make up some 28% of the 2012 Preserve New York funding.
The League will make a grant of $7,000 toward the cost of preparing a cultural landscape report for the c. 1810 Hull Family Home and Farmstead. The Hull House Foundation (HHF) was established in 2006 to restore the house and lands of the oldest masonry residence in Erie County open to the public. HHF has engaged a team to interpret the site's 22 acres of agricultural lands as an example of pre-Erie Canal farm life. The report will inform the use of a grant of $113,087 from New York's Environmental Protection Fund (EPF).
A second grant of $10,000 will be made to the Martin House Restoration Corporation of Buffalo. The grant will support the cost of completing a cultural landscape report for the Darwin D. Martin House Complex (1903-1909). Over the past decade, the six-building complex designed by Frank Lloyd Wright has been meticulously restored. The Restoration Corporation now seeks to bring the same professional standards to the site's 1.5 acre setting by determining the use by Wright and others of "organic architectural principles." The goal is to create an appropriate and authentic context for the National Historic Landmark Martin House.
The League will also make a grant of $6,200 toward the cost of completing a State and National Register of Historic Places nomination for the Fargo Estate neighborhood located on the west side of Buffalo. Comprised of more than 300 primarily residential properties that reflect several development booms between 1860 and 1890, its origins are linked to William G. Fargo, co-founder of Wells Fargo. National Register designation will allow property owners access to state and federal tax credit programs for rehabilitation. The project will foster links between the area's cultural center, Kleinhans Music Hall, and the nearby neighborhood.
The Preserve New York Grant Program is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature. "With the announcement of the 2012 awards, the total support provided by Preserve New York since its launch in 1993 is over $1.7 million to 279 projects statewide," said Jay DiLorenzo, President of the Preservation League. "Preserve New York has a strong track record of bolstering local preservation efforts and delivering a strong return on investment."
"At its August, 2012 meeting, the Preserve New York grant program panel selected 14 applicants in 11 counties around the state to share $83,674 in funding," said Tania Werbizky, the League's Regional Director of Technical and Grant Programs in western New York. "As always, the competition for these funds was intense. The Preservation League is delighted to help advance the preservation efforts of these Western New York organizations with timely funding from Preserve New York grants."
Entry image by Bernie Wagner
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