Trenton, NJ - Advancing its ongoing commitment to ensuring a stable and healthy cultural industry, the New Jersey Cultural Trust Board approved a total of $798,395 in grants supporting capital projects at 21 nonprofit cultural organizations during an open public meeting held virtually on December 15, 2023. With the FY 2024 grant awards, the Cultural Trust has now awarded over $10.4 million in funding for historic preservation and financial stabilization projects across New Jersey to date.
The Fiscal Year 2024 Capital Historic Preservation grants were recommended to the Cultural Trust Board by the New Jersey Historic Trust. The nearly $800,000 in awards represents the largest total dollar amount the Board has approved in grant awards in a single fiscal year since 2011.
“These grants are investments in the sustainability and longevity of sites significant to our state’s rich and diverse history,” said Lieutenant Governor Tahesha Way, who oversees the Cultural Trust in her capacity as Secretary of State. “New Jersey’s historic places are essential to our state’s identity and culture, and the Cultural Trust’s Capital Historic Preservation program helps safeguard them for future generations.”
The Capital Historic Preservation program supports historic preservation projects at sites listed on the New Jersey and/or National Register of Historic Places, including stabilization, repair, restoration, adaptive reuse, and accessibility improvements. All project proposals must be in conformance with the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties.
The maximum award amount for Fiscal Year 2024 grants was $40,000 — a 60 percent increase over the maximum award amount in Fiscal Year 2018 when the Capital Historic Preservation grant program was most recently offered. At the Cultural Trust Board meeting authorizing the Fiscal Year 2024 grant round, Board members specifically approved this increase in response to inflation and rising costs of materials and labor.
“The projects that come before the Cultural Trust are critical to the operations and missions of these historic sites and cultural organizations, and they’re only getting more expensive,” said Cultural Trust Board Chair Bette Daniele. “It’s important to the Board that the Capital Historic Preservation program takes into account the on-the-ground realities facing nonprofit organizations stewarding New Jersey’s historic places.”
The Fiscal Year 2024 awardees include arts and history organizations from 12 counties with projects ranging from accessibility improvements and HVAC system upgrades to stabilization and restoration of historically significant features including plasterwork and stained glass windows.
Pursuant to the Cultural Trust Act, applications to its annual grant programs undergo an independent third-party peer review process consisting of qualified individuals employing uniform evaluation criteria. Awards are recommended to its board in alternating years by three entities: New Jersey State Council on Arts; New Jersey Historical Commission; New Jersey Historic Trust.
Unique among other grant programs within Department of State; trust grants are made from interest income generated by permanent investment fund rather than direct annual budgetary appropriation.
High interest rates; increased appropriations to principal fund; diligent stewardship resulted high interest income recent fiscal year which directly increased capacity for awards FY24 Program.
FY24 Grant Awardees:
Camden County Historical Society (Pomona Hall) Camden County - $40K
Home Port Alliance (USS NJ) Camden County - $40K
Historic Cold Spring Village Cape May County - $40K
Mid-Atlantic Center Arts Humanities (Emlen Physick Estate) Cape May County - $40K
Naval Air Station Wildwood Aviation Museum Cape May County - $40K
Millville Army Airfield Museum Cumberland County - $30K
Montclair Historical Society Essex County - $40K
Gloucester Co Hist Soc Gloucester Co -$39k
Save Ellis Island Inc Hudson Co-40k
1759 Vought House Hunterdon Co-$33k
Delaware River Mill Society Hunterdon-$40k
Hunterdon Land Tr Hunterdon-$39k
Historic Morven Mercer-$40k Old Barracks Museum Mercer-$40k Friends Millstone Township Monmouth-$40k InfoAge Science History Center Monmouth-$40k South Street Theatre Morris-$40k American Labor Museum Passaic-$39/975 Liberty Hall Museum Union-Union$40000 Merchants Drovers Tavern Union-Union$40000 Reeves-Reed Arboretum Union-Union$16223
