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2016 Valerie Sivinski Washington Preserves Fund Grant Awards

Washington Trust for Historic Preservation Announces 2016 Valerie Sivinski Washington Preserves Fund Grant Awards Grants Assist Local Preservation Projects Throughout State Each year the Washington Trust for Historic Preservation provides grant funding through their Valerie Sivinski Washington Preserves Fund to organizations across the state that are diligently working to preserve local historic resources. While grant awards are modest, recipients consistently report the important role this grant award plays in leveraging additional contributions, validating local preservation work, and ultimately achieving project goals. The intent of the program is to assist preservation projects where they really happen: at the local level. Recipients of the 2016 Valerie Sivinski Washington Preserves Fund grant awards were publicly announced on December 8 at the Washington Trust’s annual Holiday Benefit, held at the landmark Stimson-Green Mansion in Seattle. Our slate of 2016 grant recipients includes the following organizations:
  • Coastal Heritage Alliance, Tacoma – $1,250 to purchase marine lumber to replace deteriorated hull frames on the starboard side of the fishing vessel Commencement. Built in 1926 by the Skansie Boatbuilding and Transportation Company in Gig Harbor, the Commencement served as a salmon boat for 70 years and can now be chartered for educational trips.
  • Friends of Fort Ward, Bainbridge Island – $1,000 to restore the historic Fort Ward bakery/powerhouse building for use as a community hall.  This project included significant input from the Friends of Fort Ward Youth Advisory Group, which includes local high school students interested in historic preservation.
  • Friends of Skamokawa, Cathlamet – $1,500 to repair entrance sill and railing, stairs on the 1894 Redmen Hall, listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
  • Historic Fox Theater, Centralia – $2,000 to restore the mezzanine lobby and women’s restrooms. Located in the heart of Centralia’s National Register Historic District, Historic Fox Theatre Restorations has been implementing a phased approach leading to full rehabilitation of the theater.
  • Haller House, Whidbey Island – $1,000 to remove and replace the cedar shingle roof. Not only is it one of the earlier residential structures in the state, but Granville Haller, a military man, gained notoriety in 1855 when he was defeated near Fort Dalles on the Columbia by a superior force of Yakama, Klickitat and Cayuse Warriors. Haller also served the Union Army during the Civil War.
  • Kirkman House, Walla Walla – $1,000 to restore two chimneys at the rear of the house and also the dining room firebox. Built in 1880, efforts in the 1970s to save the house led to it being listed in the National-Register and operated as a museum open to the public.
  • LaCrosse Rock Houses, Lacrosse – $750 to repair, secure, and stabilize a series of small buildings constructed in the 1930s from local basalt stones, the presence of which are a result of the Ice Age Floods. The hope is to ultimately restore the compound of structures to create an Ice Age Institute/Missoula Floods Museum.
  • Maryhill Museum of Art, Goldendale – $1,000 to repair and restore exterior stucco, redesign and rebuild the roof flashing and ramps, and repaint the exterior to its historic color. Opened in 1940 and eventually listed in the National Register, the museum is an architectural marvel along the Columbia.
  • Neely Mansion Acosta Tool Shed, Auburn– $500 to purchase materials for restoration of the roof, doors, floor, and siding of the garden shed building. Built in 1894, the Neely Mansion is a wonderful Victorian wood-framed building near Black Diamond. The tool shed is small, vernacular building which helps to understand full range of activities that took place at the site.
In addition to cash grants for bricks and mortar rehabilitation work, 2016 marks the first year the Washington Trust has offered building assessment services to grant applicants.  Building assessments are able to provide a prioritized schedule of capital needs while outlining preferred treatments that meet historic standards.  Information contained in a building assessment is intended to provide stewards with a clear path toward rehabilitation.  Building assessments will be conducted by Artifacts Consulting, a historic preservation consulting firm generously providing these services pro bono.   We are pleased to announce the first recipient of our Building Assessment program is the Ellensburg Masonic Temple Association.  Included in the assessment will be recommendations for proceeding with façade restoration to the 1890 Masonic Temple located in downtown Ellensburg. Photos of each awarded project are available at preservewa.org/current-recipients.aspx. For additional photos, please contact Jennifer Mortensen at jmortensen@preservewa.org. Since 1998, the Fund has awarded 124 projects totaling almost $120,000 in funding to local historic preservation organizations and advocates engaged in the important work of preserving Washington’s cultural heritage. Funding for the grant program is obtained from private donations to the Trust with the goal of providing a minimum of $10,000 in grant funding per year. If you are interested in making donation in support of the Valerie Sivinski Washington Preserves Fund or the Valerie Sivinski Washington Preserves Fund Endowment to secure the future of the program, your contribution will be fully tax deductible.. The Washington Trust for Historic Preservation is a statewide, tax exempt 501(c)3 non-profit organization founded in 1976 to safeguard Washington's historic places through advocacy, education, collaboration and stewardship. For additional information regarding the 2016 grant recipients or for information on contributing to the Valerie Sivinski Fund visit preservewa.org or call 206-624-9449.