SOUTH BEND — The History Museum has been selected to receive a matching grant of $50,000 from the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority’s (IHCDA) CreatINg Places program.
The deadline to donate is Sunday, July 13.
If the museum reaches its goal of raising $50,000, that and IHCDA’s $50,000 match will be used to improve and enhance the museum’s immersive experience of early settler and pioneer life with the creation of The Navarre Homestead, which would surround the 1820 Pierre Navarre Log Cabin, recently relocated to the museum’s campus.
In addition to curriculum development and the creation of hands-on educational materials, the money will allow for necessary repairs to the cabin walls and windows, a portable ramp for handicapped access, and site preparation including tree trimming, split rail fencing, and natural prairie-like landscaping for the 200-year-old cabin and surrounding area to be used as an interpretative site.
The money also will facilitate improvements that lay the groundwork for the inclusion of new structures to complement the historic log cabin, including a trading post, blacksmith shop, native settlement, stable, granary and smokehouse, which will further expand the interpretative, immersive aspects of The Navarre Homestead in Phase II.
“The Homestead will provide tremendous learning opportunities and a neighborhood gathering space complementing The History Museum’s historic gardens and galleries,” History Museum Executive Director Brian Harding said in a press release.
Since the program began in 2016, CreatINg Places projects have raised more than $12.8 million in public funds and an additional $10.7 million in matching IHCDA funds. The program is available to projects located in Indiana communities. Non-profit entities (with 501c3 or 501c4 status) and local units of government are eligible to apply.
To donate by July 13, go to patronicity.com/NavarreHomestead.
For more information, call (574) 235-9664, ext. 6256 or visit historymuseumSB.org.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Deadline approaches to donate for matching grant for History Museum for the Navarre Cabin
Reporting by Andrew S. Hughes, South Bend Tribune / South Bend Tribune
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