U.S. Awards Grants for Maritime Heritage Preservation
The U.S. National Park Service and Maritime Administration have awarded $2.58 million in Maritime Heritage Program grants for projects in 19 states to preserve maritime history sites.
Funding for the grants is provided through the recycling of vessels from the MARAD’s National Defense Reserve Fleet. The grant program supports a broad range of maritime education and preservation projects, without expending tax dollars, while ensuring that the vessels are dismantled in an environmentally sound manner.
The Maritime Heritage Program grants are available to state, tribal and local governments, as well as private non-profit organizations for education and preservation projects. Education projects are funded in amounts between $15,000-$50,000; preservation projects are funded in amounts between $50,000-$200,000. Education grants can be used for programs such as school curriculum, interpretive programs and web pages and preservation grant projects can include the rehabilitation or restoration of ships and other maritime resources.
Examples of projects that will be supported by this year’s Maritime Heritage Program grants include: an educational program providing students studying state history at California Title 1 schools an overnight stay on board historic tall ship Spirit of Dana Point; a plan to rehabilitate four offshore lighthouses to enhance public education and tourism related to Michigan’s unique maritime history and the refinishing of the steel superstructure of the Liberty Ship John W. Brown in Maryland to stabilize and preserve the ship from hull and superstructure corrosion.
“As a nation with vast coastlines and interior waterways, our maritime heritage is an integral part of the story of our economic growth and the defense of our nation,” said Director Jonathan B. Jarvis. “These grants will enable our state historic preservation partners to connect local communities to their maritime heritage from sea to shining sea.”
“These iconic maritime treasures must be preserved for future generations — ships, lighthouses, and the vast array of strategic maritime vessels that served and protected our nation at critical times in our history,” said Maritime Administrator Paul “Chip” Jaenichen. “The Maritime Administration is committed to preserving these assets and artifacts from our past, so that future generations can fully appreciate, and be inspired by our nation’s maritime legacy.”
The full list of projects receiving grants is as follows:
AK -Kodiak Maritime Museum and Art Center, Thelma C Exhibit Project, $50,000
CA -Santa Barbara Maritime Museum, Spirit of Dana Tall Ship Overnight Education Program, $35,000
CA -Maritime Museum Association of San Diego, A Distance Learning History Project: Linking to Cabrillo’s Ship San Salvador, $49,100
CA -University of South Carolina, Island of the Blue Dolphins and its Maritime History Context, $49,669
CA -San Francisco Maritime National Park Association, Steam Ferryboat Eureka Structural Survey, $52,900
CT -Mystic Seaport Museum, Scrimshaw, Marine Painting, and Ship Model Preservation and Access Project, $49,959
CT -Connecticut River Museum, Connecticut River Museum Bulkhead Replacement Project, $197,364
DE -Kalmar Nyckel Foundation, “Wilmington Shipbuilding” Interpretive Educational Exhibit, $31,800
FL -St Augustine Lighthouse and Museum, Construction of an Archaeological Research and Education Center, $50,000
ME -Maine Maritime Museum, Construction of Building Addition for a Simulated Lighthouse Lantern Room, $50,000
MD -Historic St Mary’s City Commission, Maryland Dove Pier Repair, $50,000
MD -Phillips Wharf Educational Center, Chesapeake Oysters: From Skipjack to Shucker—A Maritime Heritage Experience, $49,875
MD -Project Liberty Ship, Preservation of the Superstructure of Liberty Ship John W. Brown, $178,670
MA -Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Visualizing Maritime History: A New MIT Online Resource, $50,000
MA -New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center, Resilience: The Story of New Bedford’s Fishing Industry, $20,000
MA -Old Dartmouth Historical Society, Centennial Celebration of the Lagoda, the World’s Largest Ship Model, $37,000
MA -USS Constitution Museum, Renewing “Old Ironsides,” $50,000
MA -PAST Foundation, Telltales to Learning: Professional Development/Immersion Programs in Maritime Heritage, $49,738
MI -Mason County Historical Society, The Cleaning, Preservation, and Public Display of Fresnel Lighthouse Lenses, $52,335
MI -Michigan State Historic Preservation Office, Michigan Offshore Lights Historic Structure Report and Public Education Project, $123,000
MN -Minnesota Historical Society, Cultural Landscape Report for Split Rock Light Station, $68,000
NJ -Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts and Humanities, Exterior Painting at the Cape May Lighthouse, $50,000
NY -National Maritime Historical Society, Indexing, Digitizing, and Online Expansion of Sea History Magazine, $50,000
NY -Seamen’s Church Institute of New York and New Jersey, Mapping New York City’s Sailortown: A Networked Digital Maritime History Consortium, $34,000
NY -Greater Lockport Development Association, Phase II of the Restoration of the Erie Canal Flight of Five: Miter Gates, $200,000
NY -Town of North Hempstead, The Stepping Stones Lighthouse: First Steps to Rehabilitation, $165,000
NC -North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources, Queen Anne’s Revenge: Development of Large Artifact Conservation Wet Lab, $144,569
OH -Ohio Historical Society, Interior Restoration of the Historic Steam Towboat W.P. Snyder Jr, $100,000
OR -Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, Introducing Public Audiences to the USS Blueback, $45,035
PA -Independence Seaport Museum, Submarine Becuna Multimedia App Development, $50,000
PA -Philadelphia Ship Preservation Guild, Restoration of Boat Deck and Hull: 1902 Tug Jupiter, $100,088
RI -Steamship Historical Society of America, Steaming into the Future, $50,000
VA -Christopher Newport University, Documenting, Interpreting, and Disseminating Historical Collections from The Mariners’ Museum Library, $47,095
WA -Sound Experience, Schooner Adventuress Deck Renewal Project, $200,000
Grand Total $2,580,197