Matzie: $4,000 state grant will boost area historic preservation efforts

AMBRIDGE, March 4 – A $4,000 state grant to the Beaver County Historical Research and Landmarks Foundation will help an important area group continue working to preserve Beaver County’s past, state Rep. Rob Matzie, D-Beaver/Allegheny, announced today. 

Matzie, who serves on the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, said the commission’s grant will provide critical operating resources for the foundation.

“Groups like the Beaver County Historical Research and Landmarks Foundation play a key role in safeguarding the documents, artifacts and historical buildings that inspire us and remind us of the ingenuity and talent of past generations,” Matzie said. “But the foundation does so much more. Through displays and community events, they also chronicle our past in a way that explains how our area’s unique history unfolded and evolved. 

“Securing this funding ensures that the foundation can continue keeping history alive for residents and future generations.”

Matzie noted that the grants are part of a package awarded to applicants under the Cultural and Historical Support Grant Program, which is administered by PHMC. The grant program is designed to provide general operating support to Pennsylvania museums and county historical societies that are not directly supported by other state agency operating support programs.

In January, the House unanimously passed Matzie’s bill that would keep the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission operating with maximum efficiency by consolidating the regulations governing its work in one statutory source.