Preservation League Announces $12k in Grants to Sullivan County Organizations

Two Non-Profits Receive Funding

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Yasgur's Farm, Bethel Woods

ALBANY, NY (12/24/2013)(readMedia)-- The Preservation League of New York State recently made two Preserve New York grants totaling $12,000 to a pair of Sullivan County not-for-profit groups.

Beaverkill Area Neighbors Association in Livingston Manor will receive $5,000 to support the cost of a Cultural and Historic Resources Survey. Along with 19th century commercial and mixed-use buildings, Livingston Manor has a WPA-era Central School and a 1950s fire station. The Little Beaver Kill Creek flows under Main Street and joins the Willowemoc Creek in Livingston Manor. These creeks have flooded many times in recent years, threatening the hamlet's historic buildings.

This reconnaissance-level survey, to be completed by Neil Larson of Larson Fisher Associates, is the second phase in the Town of Rockland survey initiated by the Historic Inventory Project of BANA (Beaverkill Area Neighbors Association).

The Bethel Woods Center for the Arts will receive a $7,000 grant to complete a Historic Landscape Report. Yasgur Farm was the site of the 1969 Woodstock Music Festival. The Bethel Woods Center for the Arts includes large parking fields, the Pavilion Stage which can accommodate up to 15,000 concert-goers, and a museum dedicated to the history of the 1960s and the Woodstock Festival.

The Center for the Arts has accumulated land associated with the festival in an effort to preserve the viewshed and original landscape features, and plans to seek National Historic Landmark status. Patricia O'Donnell, landscape architect, Heritage Landscapes, will complete the project.

Darlene Fedun, Chief Executive Officer for Bethel Woods Center for the Arts adds, "We are so grateful to the Preserve New York grant program for their support of our efforts to complete the Historic Landscape Report with the ultimate goal to achieve National Historic Landmark status for our historic site, the site of the 1969 Woodstock festival. The sensitive improvements we hope to make to the Woodstock historic site will be a reflection of our commitment to stewardship, improve our visitors' understanding of the site's history and meaning, and improve the overall experience of visiting Bethel Woods."

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 2013 awards, the total support provided by Preserve New York since its launch in 1993 is over $1.8 million to 292 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, 2013 meeting, the Preserve New York grant program panel selected 13 applicants in nine counties around the state to share $100,000 in funding," said Erin Tobin, the League's Regional Director of Technical and Grant Programs in eastern New York. "As always, the competition for these funds was intense. The Preservation League is delighted to help advance the preservation efforts of the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts and the Beaverkill Area Neighbors Association with timely funding from Preserve New York."

Organizations and municipalities receiving grant awards in 2013 are: Albany County: Historic Albany Foundation; Erie County (2): Old First Ward Community Association, Buffalo; Preservation Buffalo Niagara, Buffalo; Kings County: Historic Districts Council, New York City; Ontario County (2): 1816 Farmington Quaker Meetinghouse; Geneva Business Improvement District; Monroe County: Landmark Society of Western New York, Rochester; Montgomery County (2): Village of Canajoharie; Mohawk Valley Collective; Niagara County: City of Lockport; Schenectady County: Vale Cemetery Preservation, Inc.; Sullivan County (2): Beaverkill Neighbors Association; Bethel Woods Center for the Arts.

For more information on the Preserve New York Grant Program, please call 518-462-5658 or visit the League's website at www.preservenys.org.