Tour booklet to be updated
Published 4:45 pm Thursday, February 13, 2014
![FILE IMAGE | DAILY NEWS MORE ON THE WAY: Updated copies Washington’s Historic Walking Tour booklet will soon be available, thanks to a grant that will help pay for printing them.](https://www.thewashingtondailynews.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2014/02/NEWS-WALKING-TOUR-WEB.jpg)
FILE IMAGE | DAILY NEWS
MORE ON THE WAY: Updated copies Washington’s Historic Walking Tour booklet will soon be available, thanks to a grant that will help pay for printing them.
The booklet used by many people who take Washington’s Historic Walking Tour likely will be updated.
During its meeting Monday, the City Council authorized the mayor to sign an application for grant funds to update the booklet. The application will be sent to the State Historic Preservation Office for consideration. The money would come from the Historic Preservation Fund, a federal matching program that supports state and local historic preservation programs and projects.
Currently, there are no booklets available.
In the past, the booklet could be purchased at the city’s Visitor Center, now housed in the Washington-Beaufort County Chamber of Commerce on Stewart Parkway on the city’s waterfront. The booklet features more than 30 sites, including historic homes, churches and businesses.
Under grant terms, a local entity must provide a minimum of 40 percent of a project’s cost to receive HPF funds. The cost to update the booklet is estimated at $10,000, according to a memorandum from Jennifer Brennan, the city’s preservation planner, to John Rodman, the city’s cultural and community development director.
“Throughout the fall of 2013, many groups have expressed interest in updating and reprinting the walking tour of the Washington Historic District. It appears as though there may be inaccurate information in the current book and it does not appear to be inclusive of the entire district,” Brennan wrote in the memorandum. “Therefore, it has been proposed to hire a consultant who would research and write an updated walking tour brochure. Due to the fact that much of the information already exists, the walking tour would not be recreated, just updated.”
Brennan’s memorandum notes there are several organizations that have expressed interest in contributing to the 40-percent match needed to secure the grant funding.
The Washington Tourism Development Authority did the research for and compiled information for the booklet. The Washington Area Historic Foundation provided input as information for the booklet was being compiled.