East Meredith Organization Secures Grant from Preservation League

ALBANY, NY (08/06/2012)(readMedia)-- The Preservation League of New York State has awarded a $2,270 Technical Assistance Grant to the Hanford Mills Museum in East Meredith. The grant will support the completion of a Building Conditions Survey of the Walter J. Smith Hardware Store.

The former Hardware Store is a key component of the Hanford Mills Museum, a collection of 17 buildings and structures as well as five sites of former buildings that together tell the story of a rural milling hamlet. The Walter J. Smith Hardware Store is frequently used by the public and houses the museum's archives, offices and conference space, and since the 1940s, the community post office.

Crawford and Stearns, Preservation Planners and Architects of Syracuse, will determine the causes of and solutions to structural failure threatening this historic building.

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 what was 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 Tania Werbizky, the League's Regional Director of Technical and Grant Programs in western New York. "The Preservation League is delighted to help advance the preservation efforts of the Hanford Mills Museum 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.

"Using funds from the Preservation League's Technical Assistance Grant program, we can really move our investigation of the building's settling front porch into high gear," said Alan Rowe, the Research and Preservation Coordinator at Hanford Mills Museum. "With a professionally prepared Building Conditions Survey we can undertake the stabilization and repair the porch with the confidence that we have all of the information we need to complete the job in an appropriate way."

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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About Hanford Mills Museum

Hanford Mills Museum is open 10 am – 5 pm, Wednesdays through Sundays, and on holiday Mondays through October 14. Hanford Mills Museum is located at 51 County Hwy. 12, at the intersection of Delaware County Routes 10 and 12, in East Meredith, NY, 10 miles from Oneonta and 15 miles from Delhi. Children 12 and under are admitted free, as are Museum members. The admission fee for adults and teens (13-64) is $8.50; and for senior citizens, $6.50. AAA and military discounts are available.

As one of only a handful of operating water-powered mills, Hanford Mills Museum has earned a place on both the National and New York State Registers of Historic Places. The mission of Hanford Mills Museum is to inspire audiences of all ages to explore connections between energy, technology, natural resources and entrepreneurship in rural communities with a focus on sustainable choices.

For more information, visit www.hanfordmills.org or call 607/278-5744.

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Posted Monday August 06, 2012 at 04:26 pm by Preservation League of New York State
Last Updated Friday August 10, 2012 at 12:17 pm