Friends of The Brown House
Volunteer Renovation Project 
Glen Farm - Portsmouth, RI 

Friends of the Brown House are awarded $22,600!

---- Official Press Release ----

RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL PRESERVATION & HERITAGE COMMISSION

ANNOUNCES $1.5 MILLION IN STATE PRESERVATION GRANTS
FOR MUSEUMS AND ART CENTERS

On Tuesday, December 9, the Rhode Island Historical Preservation & Heritage Commission announced the slate of State Preservation Grant awards, worth a total of $1.5 million, for capital preservation work at 26 museums and cultural art centers from around the state. The announcement was made at AS220/Perishable Theatre, which will receive a grant of $100,000 for improvements to the façade of the historic Empire-Arnold-Potter Block.

Umberto Crenca, Artistic Director of AS220, and Mark Lerman, Artistic Director of Perishable Theatre co-hosted the ceremony. RI Historical Preservation & Heritage Commission Executive Director Edward F. Sanderson distributed State Preservation Grant award certificates to representatives from the 26 organizations. The silkscreened certificates were designed and printed by Delia Kovac of the Hive Archive, a women-run arts organization that won a grant to convert the 1852 Atlantic-Delaine Gasometer in Olneyville into an art center. Other speakers include Randall Rosenbaum, Executive Director of the RI State Council on the Arts and representatives of the Governor and Mayor.

The RI Historical Preservation & Heritage Commission developed the State Preservation Grants program after the Preservation, Recreation, and Heritage Bond Issue was approved by the voters in 2002. The competitive State Preservation Grants program provides $3 million (available in two $1.5 million grant rounds in 2003 and 2004) to be awarded through competitive grant rounds to museums and cultural art centers for the capital preservation of their historic buildings.

Of the 46 organizations that applied for funds in 2003, 26 organizations were designated State Preservation Grant projects. The list of grant recipients represents 14 Rhode Island communities, from Burrillville to Bristol, Westerly to Warwick. It includes a variety of venues, from the renowned Newport Art Museum (built in 1864) and the popular Providence Performing Arts Center (1928), to start-up projects like the 2nd Story Theatre in Warren (1914) and the Leonard Brown House (c. 1860) in Portsmouth. The State Preservation Grants will preserve such diverse structures as a windmill, a lighthouse, an elementary school, a gasometer, a fort, and a “Rhode Island stone-ender”—the 17th-century Eleazer Arnold House in Lincoln.

The $1.5 million in grant awards will go a long way by supporting projects with a total value of $18,678,344. Small grants beginning at $5000 will enable projects at volunteer-run historic house museums like the Maxwell House in Warren (1752-56) that will use $5000 for historic paint analysis and restoration of painted surfaces. Large grants of up to $200,000 will support some of the most exciting preservation projects in the state, like the conversion of the 1894-95 Pawtucket Armory into an art center ($100,000 towards a $7 million effort) or the restoration of the Southeast Light on Block Island ($200,000 towards a $1.9 million effort). For every $1 invested, a total of $12.45 of preservation activity is generated. For an investment of $1.5 million in 2003, Rhode Islanders get a return of $18,678,344 of preservation construction activity throughout the state.

The statewide distribution breaks down as follows: $184,800 (12.4%) for the East Bay; $422,760 (28.3%) for Newport; $205,057 (13.7%) for Northern Rhode Island; $295,000 (19.7%) for Providence; $354,125 (23.7%) for South County; and $30,000 (2%) for the West Bay.

From an economic perspective, State Preservation Grants leverage additional funds, support local revitalization efforts, and directly support the construction industry. Above all, State Preservation Grants represent an investment in Heritage and Arts Tourism. Tourism has become a $4 billion industry in Rhode Island that employs 64,000, and historic attractions are key to our state's appeal to visitors.

According to Edward F. Sanderson, Executive Director of the RIHPHC: “State Preservation Grants assist arts and culture organizations with costly repairs and restoration work. The preservation of these particular landmarks—theatres, museums, concert halls, historic sites—contributes to the quality of life in Rhode Island and insures that our arts and culture facilities continue to inspire new generations.”

A second $1.5 million State Preservation Grant round is scheduled for 2004.

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