The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (State Parks) has announced almost $400,000 in federal grant awards from the National Maritime Heritage Program for maritime heritage education and preservation projects in New York State.
The National Park Service (NPS) awarded $2 million in maritime heritage grants to fund 12 preservation projects in nine states, including two awards totaling $392,500 to State Parks.
The grants are to fund education programs and projects that will preserve sites and objects related to the nation’s maritime history and the grants are made possible through a partnership between NPS and the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD).
The National Park Service provides direct grants to State Historic Preservation Offices that will then distribute funds for in-house projects and as subgrants to eligible applicants.
The New York State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) received the highest combined funding ($392,500) for this round of awards: $150,000 for preservation projects and $242,500 for education projects.
The New York SHPO has identified in-house projects for both award categories, including historic preservation work at Barcelona Lighthouse on Lake Erie and traveling educational exhibitions and programs exploring Black and Indigenous maritime histories on Long Island based at Jones Beach State Park and Connetquot River State Park Preserve.
In addition, the SHPO will administer the new New York State National Maritime Heritage Subgrant Program. This program will launch in the fall of 2023 and will include two tracks: NYS Maritime Heritage Education Subgrants and NYS Maritime Heritage Preservation Subgrants.
Local governments, tribal governments, as well as 501(c)(3) and NYS qualified nonprofit organizations are eligible to apply to the NYS Maritime Heritage Education Subgrant (MH/Education) and NYS Maritime Heritage Preservation Subgrant (MH/Preservation).
The minimum grant award for MH/Education will be $5,000. OPRHP anticipates $170,000 in available funds for MH/Education projects in this round of funding.
The minimum grant award for MH/Preservation will be $15,000. OPRHP anticipates $90,000 for MH/Preservation projects in this round of funding.
Both subgrants have a 1:1 matching requirement, meaning each federal dollar must be matched by one non-federal dollar. Applicants may apply for one or both categories. Pre-application is required for all projects.
The pre-application period is open November 15-December 15, 2023. Full applications will be due February 28, 2024. Award notifications are anticipated to be in April 2024. Projects must be completed by September 30, 2025.
Full details will be available online at parks.ny.gov.
Photo: Barcelona Lighthouse (courtesy Chautauqua County Visitors Bureau).
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