The historic DeSoto Theatre in Rome, Ga. is one of 12 grant recipients and will use grant funds toward repairing the historic façade and marquee.
The Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation awarded $110,000 in matching grants for historic preservation projects in Georgia through its Callahan Incentive Grant and The 1772 Foundation Grant programs.
The Callahan Incentive Grant is made possible by generous funding from Barbara and Les Callahan, longtime supporters of the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation, to provide matching funding for historic preservation projects in the state of Georgia. Grants totaling $10,000 were awarded to two recipients: the Charles Clark III Historical & Memorial Society, Inc. (Clark’s Chapel, Hephzibah) and the Tallapoosa Historical Society (Tallapoosa Pentecostal Church, Tallapoosa). Each grantee was awarded $5,000.
The 1772 Foundation, partnering for the second time with The Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation, awarded historic preservation one-for-one matching grants totaling $100,000 to ten private nonprofit organizations maintaining historic sites in Georgia. Each grantee was awarded the grant maximum of $10,000.
Grant recipients were Candler County Historical Society (The History Museum, Metter); Fresh Air Home (Tybee Island); Friends of Massie Heritage Center (Massie School, Savannah); Historic Cobbham Foundation (Old Clarke County Jail, Athens); Historic Desoto Theatre Foundation (Rome); Old Clinton Historical Society (McCarthy-Pope House, Gray); Rise Risley (Colored Memorial Building, Brunswick); Sautee Nacoochee Community Association (Sautee Nacoochee School, Sautee Nacoochee); Stone Mountain Historical Society (Wells-Brown House, Stone Mountain); and Thomasville Cultural Center, Inc. (Thomasville Center for the Arts, Thomasville).
Grants were provided for exterior work: painting; surface restoration; fire detection/security systems; repairs to/restoration of chimneys, porches, roofs, and windows; repairs to foundations and sills; and masonry repointing. Georgia Trust staff reviewed the grant applications and selected projects based on criteria including organizational capacity, realistic budget, community support, and immediacy of need. The Georgia Trust will manage the grants.
According to Georgia Trust President and CEO Wright Mitchell, “The Georgia Trust is thrilled by our ongoing partnerships with the Callahans and The 1772 Foundation to bring financial assistance to these Georgia preservation projects. With the great wealth of historic resources in the state, we are deeply grateful for their continued support and look forward to providing funding to many more projects through our grant programs.”
