Basilica Wins Preservation Grant
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- The Basilica of St. Mary beat out 24 other local landmarks to win a $100,000 grant through Partners in Preservation.
The Basilica won the popular vote on Facebook, edging past such other contenders as the Landmark Center, the Fitzgerald Theater, the Pioneers and Soldiers Cemetery on Lake Street and the James J. Hill House.
As the top vote-getter, the Basilica will now receive the $100,000 grant through American Express and the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
"The Basilica of Saint Mary did an excellent job throughout the program to engage its community members and draw awareness to its cause," said American Express Foundation president Timothy J. McClimon.
Some of the announced repairs to be made at the Basilica include work on the ceilings and limestone walls of the narthex and sacristy, as well as repairs to the building's gold leaf.
The remaining finalists aren't going home empty-handed though. There was an original $1 million in grant money to be had, and the remaining $900,000 is set to be awarded to various other sites on Nov. 9. Those sites are as follows:
American Swedish Institute, Minneapolis
Banfill-Locke Center for the Arts, Fridley
Chaska Athletic Park, Chaska
Christ Lutheran Church on Capitol Hill, Saint Paul
C.S.P.S. Sokol Hall, Saint Paul
Emerge Career and Technology Center (Old North Branch Library), Minneapolis
Episcopal Church of the Transfiguration, Belle Plaine
Fitzgerald Theater, Saint Paul
Fort Snelling Upper Post, Building 67, Unincorporated Hennepin County
Harriet Tubman Center East (Former Saint Paul's Monastery), Minneapolis
Hennepin Center for the Arts, Minneapolis
Historic Pilot Knob, Mendota Heights
James J. Hill House, Saint Paul
Landmark Center, Saint Paul
Mill Ruins Park, Minneapolis
Minnehaha Park, Minneapolis
Minnesota State Fair Grandstand, Saint Paul
Minnesota Transportation Museum (Jackson Street Roundhouse), Saint Paul
Pilgrim Baptist Church, Saint Paul
Pioneers and Soldiers Cemetery, Minneapolis
The Soap Factory, Minneapolis
Washington County Historic Courthouse, Stillwater
Waterford Iron Bridge, Waterford Township
Wayzata Depot, Wayzata
