Projects receive state funding

ACLT, marine museum among benefactors

Friday, July 24, 2009

Provided by the Maryland Heritage Areas Authority, the grants are all for fiscal year 2010 and part of the fifth round of annual funds to go through SMHAC since 2003. "Heritage tourism" is defined as traveling to places that represent a region's residents and culture of the past and present.

In Calvert County, the American Chestnut Land Trust (ACLT) will receive $50,000 for the Prince Frederick to Chesapeake Bay Overlook Trail, which will link the trust's current trails to the town center and include a wooden overlook platform.

A portion of the grant will go towards the purchase of a property in Prince Frederick, while the rest will go towards construction of the platform at the end of the trail in Prince Frederick, ACLT Executive Director Karen Edgecombe said.

The platform, to be built on land owned by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, will allow hikers to see year-round both Parkers Creek and the bay, which are currently visible from the trail only during winter after the leaves have fallen.

The ACLT plans to have the overlook finished by spring of next year and the trail within two or three years, Edgecombe said. With the ACLT required to match the SMHAC funds, the project's total cost is about $100,000.

"With the economy being the worst we've seen in years, I didn't really have high hopes [of receiving funds], but the idea has been one that everyone I've told about it has been really excited about," Edgecombe said. "It's been a long-standing goal of the land trust to construct our trails to the town center and ultimately it's part of an even broader vision to have a green way that goes from the bay to the Patuxent River."

In addition, the Calvert Marine Museum Society will get $10,000 to fund the African-Americans in Southern Maryland Exhibit. The exhibit will focus on the often-overlooked history and contributions of blacks to the region, including black watermen and ship captains.

"It's a story we have not told," museum Deputy Director Sherrod Sturrock said. "We have been remiss. This gives us an opportunity to really address that oversight."

The exhibit will be located in the museum's maritime gallery, which is currently being upgraded. The museum plans to finish the upgrades by December and the exhibit by the spring of 2010, Sturrock said. The exhibit has a budget of $20,000, with the museum matching the SMHAC funds in full partially through time spent by staff on the exhibit.

In St. Mary's County, the Historic St. Mary's City Foundation will get $29,000 to build an exhibit gallery for the rebuilt 1667 Brick Chapel and $20,000 will go towards a comprehensive evaluation of the Sotterley Plantation in Hollywood, Md.

The Charles County Board of County Commissioners and Department of Public Facilities will receive $100,000 for a segment of the Indian Head Heritage Rail Trail, a 13-mile hiking trail that will run along an abandoned railroad corridor.

The remaining $50,000 will go towards SMHAC's annual operating budget and a round of small grants that will be awarded in the fall.

jnewman@somdnews.com