Like to vote? Make it count.
$1 million dollar grant available for local historic preservation sites.
Make your voice heard – there’s a local opportunity for one of 25 eligible historic locations to be granted $1 million dollars by American Express and the National Trust for Historic Preservation through a joint initative called Partners in Preservation. The cash is distributed according to an on-line voting system – according to the PIP website, “At the end of the voting period, the site with the most votes is guaranteed funding from a total of $1 million that American Express will give away to support the preservation of historic places in the Seattle-Puget Sound area.” There are so many great projects – it’ll be hard to narrow down just one.
I was pleased to see a couple of familiar faces on there – the 5th Ave is a great partner for SAM and we love to work together, and Town Hall Seattle is another great cultural landmark in Downtown Seattle. The Naval Reserve Armory building on Lake Union will house one of our sister museums, MOHAI, in the next couple years, which is an exciting change for them. The Urban League building, a beautiful, century-old building, is one that I drive by on a regular basis by my house, and that I’ve often hoped would get restored.
And then there are some that I never knew were in my backyard – I’ll have to make a trip to see the Spanish Steps in Tacoma (they’re modeled after the original Roman version – I’m thinking about taking a pint of gelato down there this summer and seeing if I can re-create a trip to Italy for slightly less than the price of a plane ticket). And there’s another great building in my neighborhood that I haven’t taken a close look at – Washington Hall, which has apparently hosted some great speakers and performers – Duke Ellington, Martin Luther King, Jr., Jimi Hendrix, and Mark Morris.
Take a look and help out our community! According to PIP, you are encouraged to vote early and often – you can vote once every day. Voting ends on May 12, so you have 20 chances between now and then to get your voice heard and your favorite historic site some much-needed dough!
-Calandra Childers, Communications Associate