Southwestern Pennsylvania was selected as one of four finalists for two demonstration grants for the Rural Heritage Development Initiative Regions Program.

The application for the project was submitted jointly by Preservation Pennsylvania, the Pennsylvania Environmental Council and the Community Foundation for the Alleghenies.

Under the Rural Heritage Program, the selected regions will receive assistant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and the National Trust to carry out an initiative to promote heritage-based economic development.

The initial three-year program will focus on: rural tourism opportunities, the retention and use of rural historic structures, the revitalization of historic rural downtown areas and the creation of preservation-based planning and development tools.

Selected areas will have available a shared field representative who will live in the region and be trained in preservation-based rural economic development and work with a broad-based regional steering committee that represents key rural development stakeholders that will be formed.

For more information contact Anna Breinich, Director of Community Planning at PEC at 717-230-8044 x12 or send email to: abreinich@pecpa.org .

7/22/2005