State Awards Heritage Tourism Grants for Cemetery Projects
ATLANTA, October 17, 2008 - The Historic Preservation Division (HPD) of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources and the Tourism Division of the Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD) announce that they have awarded six grants totaling $8,000 for heritage tourism cemetery projects located throughout the state.
The dual agency grant program was created in response to the increasing interest Georgians have in the preservation and promotion of the historic cemeteries located within their communities. Thirty-six applications requesting almost $80,000 were received. It is anticipated that there will be second round of grant awards after the first of the year. The Historic Cemetery Heritage Tourism Program is funded by GDEcD and administered by HPD.
The award recipients are:
$1,600-Fitzgerald City Cemetery in Ben Hill Co. for a history/survey
$1,500-Riverside Cemetery in Macon, Bibb Co. for a K-12 heritage education program
$1,500-West Hill Cemetery in Dalton, Whitfield Co. for tour development, a brochure and signage
$1,450-Newton County Cemeteries for a countywide driving tour brochure
$1,000-Clay County Cemeteries for a countywide survey and condition assessment report
$ 950-Hillcrest Cemetery in East Point, Fulton Co. for a heritage festival
HPD's Division Director Ray Luce said, "This 50%/50% matching grant program was created by our two agencies to promote the preservation and heighten awareness of, through heritage tourism, Georgia's historic cemeteries." He added that, "Even though these are modest 'seed' grants, their ripple effect often spurs other preservation/tourism projects at the cemetery, as well as at other historic resources within the community."
Bruce Green, GDEcD's Tourism Product Development Director said, "Georgia's historic cemeteries represent significant tourism product potential as repositories of historic and cultural assets including landscapes, botanical treasures and funerary art. All of which can provide a very rich experience for the heritage traveler when packaged correctly and marketed appropriately." Agreeing with Ray Luce, he added, "The Heritage Tourism grants provide the seed capital to assess and promote the passive cultural infrastructure found in our local communities."
The Tourism Division of the Georgia Department of Economic Development is the state's sales and marketing arm, the lead agency for attracting new business investment, encouraging the expansion of existing industry and small businesses, locating new markets for Georgia products, attracting tourists to Georgia, and promoting the state as a location for film, video and music projects, as well as planning and mobilizing state resources for economic development.
DNR's Historic Preservation Division serves as Georgia's state historic preservation office. In addition to the Historic Cemetery Heritage Tourism Grant Program, the office also administers the Georgia Heritage Grant Program, and the Historic Preservation Fund (CLG) Grant Program. Other HPD programs include archaeology, environmental review, historic resource surveys, tax incentives, community planning and technical assistance, and the Georgia African American Historic Preservation Network. For more information on the HPD's grant programs, please contact Carole Moore at [email protected] or 404-463-8434 or go to www.gashpo.org.
Georgia Department of Natural Resources
Noel Holcomb, Commissioner
Historic Preservation Division
W. Ray Luce, Division Director and Deputy State Historic Preservation Officer
34 Peachtree Street NW, Suite 1600, Atlanta, Georgia 30303
Telephone: 404-656-2840 Fax: 404-651-8739 http://www.gashpo.org