U.S. grants for renovation of historic churches

The following is a brief excerpt from

    "In Shift, U.S. to Offer Grants to Historic Churches"
    By Laurie Goodstein and Richard W. Stevenson
    New York Times,
    May 28, 2003
    <URL:http://nytimes.com/>
    Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company

   "In a reversal of a longstanding policy, the Bush administration
   said yesterday that it would allow federal grants to be used to
   renovate churches and religious sites that are designated
   historic landmarks.

  "Interior Secretary Gale A. Norton announced the change in an
   afternoon news conference at the Old North Church in Boston,
   where in 1775 Paul Revere spotted two lanterns hung to signal the
   advance of British troops. Ms. Norton said the church, which
   still houses a congregation, would receive a federal grant of
   $317,000 to repair windows and make the building more accessible
   to the public.

   "Today we have a new policy that will bring balance to historic
    preservation and end the discriminatory double standard that has
    been applied against religious properties," said Ms. Norton,
    standing below the church's famed steeple.

    ...


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 16:77
                  Distributed: Wednesday, June 4, 2003
                       Message Id: cdl-16-77-010
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