Colonie Organization Secures Grant From Preservation League

$3,000 will foster Shaker Heritage Society preservation efforts

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Volunteers participate in a "Hands to Work" day organized by the Shaker Heritage Society.

ALBANY, NY (08/01/2012)(readMedia)-- The Preservation League of New York State has awarded a $3,000 Technical Assistance Grant to the Shaker Heritage Society in Colonie. The grant will support the completion of a structural engineering assessment of one of the component buildings of the Watervliet Shaker National Historic District, the site of America's first Shaker settlement.

The Church Family site is the heart of the 770-acre Historic District and includes nine Shaker buildings. The manure shed played an important role in the early 20th century barn complex, and is a rare and often overlooked survivor of this building type. The Shaker Heritage Society is considering an adaptive reuse of the shed as part of their Site Master Plan.

Ryan-Biggs Associates of Troy will conduct the structural assessment, which must be completed before the design and construction phases of the project can begin.

The Preservation League of New York State launched the Technical Assistance Grant (TAG) program in 2012 to support discrete projects that preserve New York State's cultural and historic resources. Grants of up to $3,000 are available to not-for-profit arts and cultural groups and municipalities managing historic sites, museums, arts facilities and other culturally important institutions that are located in historic buildings and structures open to the public.

"In a very competitive grant round, applicants sought funds for technical studies carried out by preservation and design professionals which included building conditions surveys, engineering and structural analyses, and feasibility and reuse studies," said Erin Tobin, the League's Regional Director of Technical and Grant Programs in eastern New York. "The Preservation League is delighted to help advance the preservation efforts of the Shaker Heritage Society with this grant."

The first of two grant rounds in 2012 awarded $19,495 to seven projects in seven counties. Each grant recipient must provide a $500 match.

Shaker Heritage Society Executive Director Starlyn D'Angelo noted that this grant is an important first step toward the stabilization and adaptive reuse of the Manure Shed. "Use of this portion of the 1916 Shaker Barn complex for accessible restrooms will greatly enhance the Society's ability to use the Church Family site for public events and it will increase revenues generated through facility rentals. We also hope to encourage other non-profits to use the site for community events. Our goal is to bring the Shaker Site to life and to transform it into a community asset that local residents can be proud of."

The Preservation League of New York State is a private, not-for-profit organization that works to protect and enhance the Empire State's historic buildings, landscapes and neighborhoods. The Technical Assistance 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.

"The TAG program builds on the track record of excellence the League has established with the similarly NYSCA-funded Preserve New York Grant program," said Jay DiLorenzo, President of the Preservation League. "Our TAG program fills a significant funding gap. It is tailored to provide support to worthy projects in New York that are ineligible for grants from other sources, or may not have the scope or scale to compete at regional and national levels."

Organizations and municipalities receiving TAG support in the first funding round of 2012 are: Albany County: Shaker Heritage Society; Cattaraugus County: Gowanda's Historic Hollywood Theater; Delaware County: Hanford Mills Museum; Rockland County: Garnerville Arts Project; Tioga County: Newark Valley Historical Society; Tompkins County: Trumansburg Conservatory of the Fine Arts; Wayne County: Village of Palmyra.

For more information on the League's Technical Assistance Grant program, please call 518-462-5658 or visit the League's website at www.preservenys.org.

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CONTACTS:

Erin Tobin

Regional Director of Technical and Grant Programs, Easterrn New York

518-462-5658, ext. 12

Starlyn D'Angelo, Executive Director, Shaker Heritage Society

Director@shakerheritage.org; 518-456-7890