KEYSTONE HISTORIC PRESERVATION GRANTS AWARDED IN THE 17^TH DISTRICT

HARRISBURG, OCT. 31 – Building heritage partnerships is a driving force behind the selection of this year's Keystone Historic Preservation grants, according to state Sen. Connie Williams.

"I am pleased that two organizations in the 17^th District were among the successful grant recipients during the latest round of awards," Williams said. "We are very fortunate in Montgomery and Delaware counties to have so many beautiful and vital links to our past that serve as the foundation to the future of our communities."

Grants were awarded in the 17^th District to:

• Friends of the Grange, Inc., Haverford Township -- $54,900 for The Grange Estate to fix the main porch and roof, as well as restoration of the mansion exterior wood work.

• Merion Meetings Meetinghouse, Merion Station -- $47,990 to the Religious Society of Friends to begin to make basic repairs to stabilize and preserve the Meetinghouse.

Keystone Historic Preservation grants are awarded by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission annually. For the 2006-07 year, 27 of the 78 applications were funded at a cost of $2.007 million.

Funding for Keystone Historic Preservation grants comes from the Commonwealth's Keystone Recreation, Park and Conservation Fund. Grants require a 50/50 cash match and are available for the preservation, restoration and/or rehabilitation of historic resources listed in or eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. These competitive grants are awarded annually based on a peer review process.

The application submission deadline for FY 2007-2008 is May 1, 2007. Application submission deadlines in future years may be obtained by visiting the PHMC Grants Web site at http://www.artsnet.org/phmc or by calling 1-800-201-3231.