Pittsburgh museums receive state grants for support during pandemic

The Carnegie Museum of Natural History and Carnegie Science Center and the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh were among several local museums to receive grants to support them during the covid-19 pandemic.

The three museums, along with the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania, each received a $40,000 grant from the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission.

“We’re grateful to the state for this important operational support of our museums and many others across Pennsylvania,” said Betsy Momich, director of corporate communications for Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh. “It recognizes the important work that museums continue to provide, onsite and virtually, even as we face the considerable challenges presented by the current pandemic.”

Braddock’s Battlefield History Center, Frick Art & Historical Center, the Holocaust Center of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, and Rivers of Steel/ Steel Industry Heritage Corporation also received smaller grants.

Rivers of Steel will apply its award of $33,371 toward operating expenses for its museum and archives program, based in the Bost Building National Historic Landmark in Homestead. Exhibits at the Bost Building have been closed since the onset of the pandemic, while tour attendance and revenue at the Carrie Blast Furnaces have been down 50% from 2019 levels.

“This year, more than ever, Rivers of Steel appreciates the continued support of PHMC, which provides much-needed operational funding so that our staff can continue to focus on preservation efforts,” said Amy Baldonieri, vice president and chief operating officer.

In Westmoreland County, Fort Ligonier Association received a $14,560 grant and West Overton Village was granted $5,048. The Westmoreland County Historical Society and Ligonier Valley Historical Society each received $4,000.

Julie Donovan, director of marketing and public relations, said Fort Ligonier will use its grant to support operations and marketing.

Even during the pandemic, Donovan said, “We feel very fortunate that we’ve had strong attendance.”

She said there has been little problem keeping visitors socially distanced within the association’s museum and, until the onset of winter weather, in the reconstructed 18th-century fort that covers 8 adjacent acres in Ligonier Borough.

School tours, which usually bring close to 7,000 students per year to the fort, were canceled by the pandemic. But, Donovan said, the staff created three virtual programs that have been seen by students as far away as Hawaii.

A separate $4,000 grant will help with staffing of Braddock’s Battlefield History Center, which the Ligonier association has operated since 2018. Rising covid-19 cases in the area caused cautionary suspension of the center’s Saturday operating hours. Donovan said plans are to reopen the center for tours by advance registration.

West Overton Village in East Huntingdon, centered around an historic distillery, has ended its tour season and plans to reopen in May. CEO Jessica Kadie-Barclay said the state grant will help ensure continued health benefits for West Overton’s six staff.

“It’s nice knowing that grant program is there specifically helping in areas of operations,” she said.

“Our museums and historical centers have certainly felt significant financial impacts during this pandemic, and my hope is that these grants will help them continue their efforts to educate and enlighten visitors,” said state Rep. Jake Wheatley, D-Allegheny. “These funds will provide much-needed support to keep their doors open and continue to provide opportunities to share our region’s rich history and culture.”

These local museums were among 155 museums and historical centers statewide who received these grants, designed to support such facilities during the pandemic. The PHMC awarded the nearly $2 million in grants through its Cultural and Historical Support Grant Program.

The program’s goal was to strengthen Pennsylvania’s museum community by supporting eligible museums and county historical societies that are not supported by other state agency funding programs, Wheatley said.

“Pennsylvania’s wonderful museums and historical societies continue to preserve and share the state’s rich history and culture through the stories they tell,” Gov. Tom Wolf said. “These funds, awarded to museums and historical societies across the commonwealth, at a time when many of our cultural and historical institutions have been severely impacted by the covid-19 pandemic, will help ensure these facilities are able to continue serving as educational resources for all Pennsylvanians.”

Eligible museums had to have an annual operating budget exceeding $100,000 — excluding capital and in-kind services — and at least one full-time professional staff person or an approved equivalent. Grant amounts were determined using an equation based on a percentage of the museum’s previous year’s operating budget, with the maximum amount a museum could receive set at $40,000.

“PHMC is delighted to once again award these general operating support grants to museums and historical societies, especially as museums face extreme financial challenges related to the pandemic,” PHMC Executive Director Andrea Lowery said.