Allegheny County entities awarded Keystone Historic Preservation Grants

Seven Allegheny County organizations have been awarded a total of $460,000 in grant money from the Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission.

The awards, announced Wednesday, include $100,000 for the Andrew Carnegie Free Library and Music Hall in Carnegie; Thornburg Borough; St. Stanislaus Kostka Roman Catholic Church of Pittsburgh; and the Union Project of Pittsburgh.

Keystone Historic Preservation Grants provide funding to support projects that identify, preserve, and protect historic and archaeological resources in Pennsylvania.

Maggie Forbes, executive director of the Carnegie Library Free Library and Music Hall, said its $100,000 award will be put toward upgrades to the popular 420-seat music hall — including adding air conditioning, to make it a year ‘round venue.

“It’s really a magical place and the grant will bring back its beauty,” Forbes said. “I think when we’re done we will be recognized widely as perhaps the finest mid-sized venue in the region because we’ve got the acoustics, we’ve got ambience, we’ve got the comfortable seats.”

Other Allegheny County entities receiving awards include Pittsburgh Green Innovators and Rivers of Steel Heritage Corp., which received $25,000 each and Elizabeth Borough, which got $10,000.

In all, the commission awarded $2.6 million in grant money to historical and heritage organizations, museums and local governments in 20 counties.

The grants receive funding from the Keystone Recreation, Park & Conservation Fund. The fund is supported annually from a portion of the state realty transfer tax revenue.

“It is rewarding to impact communities in 20 different counties,” said Andrea Lowery, the commission’s executive director. “The selected projects represent the breadth of historic resources that Pennsylvanians value.”