FLORENCE – The Muscle Shoals National Heritage Area has opened its newly created community grants that awards up to $2,500 for historic preservation and archival projects in its six counties: Colbert, Franklin, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Limestone and Morgan.
Applications will be accepted four times a year — once every fiscal-year quarter, said MSNHA director Judy Sizemore. Deadlines for applications to be submitted are April 1, July 1, Oct. 1 and Jan. 1. Applications and instructions on how to apply are on MSNHA’s website, msnha.una.edu.
Judy Sizemore-Director of Muscle Shoals National Heritage Area
One of MSNHA’s goals since the Heritage Area was formed in 2009, the grants program was realized when the Department of the Interior approved MSNHA’s management plan this past fall. That approval meant that MSNHA could receive more federal funds for local interpretive projects, Sizemore added
“MSNHA will award up to $2,500 per project to libraries, museums, historical societies and other non- and not-for-profits for the preservation, conservation, interpretation and archiving of heritage sites and traditions,” Sizemore said. “To be eligible, proposed projects must focus on assessment, preservation activities, interpretation, archiving or workshops and training sessions.”
Sizemore announced the grant program during a recent open house and ribbon cutting celebrating the MSNHA administrative offices’ move to the historic Governors’ House, 468 N. Court St., home of Alabama governors Edward O’Neal and son Emmet O’Neal. The Heritage Area shares the space with the UNA Public History Center, where students gain hands-on experience in preservation and interpretation by helping local communities protect historic sites.
For more information on MSNHA or its grants program, email msnha@una.edu, call 256.765.5028 or visit the website at msnha.una.edu.
MEDIA RELEASE/Muscle Shoals National Heritage Area, Cathy Wood, media coordinator
