The Washington County Historic Courthouse will receive $5,000 in a preservation grant from American Express and the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
Although, the courthouse did not receive enough votes to receive part of the $1 million, an advisory committee comprised of civic and preservation leaders, which was co-chaired by Mayor R.T. Rybak of Minneapolis and Mayor Chris Coleman of St. Paul decided the courthouse among 11 other sites would receive $5,000 each.
Twenty-five historic sites participated in the program and competed for votes on Facebook for a part of the $1 million grant.
American Express and the National Trust encouraged the Twin Cities community to vote online daily for three weeks for their favorite historic place.
This year marked the first time that Partners in Preservation voting occurred on Facebook, with people from the Twin Cities, and around the world, getting involved.
“Partners in Preservation is designed to encourage the community to rally behind their favorite historic places and help us to determine where these funds are needed,” said Timothy J. McClimon, President of the American Express Foundation.
“The Twin Cities community did an amazing job of getting involved and making their voices heard. We congratulate the winners and commend all of the sites for their fantastic work, and we look forward to seeing the finished results of each preservation project,” McClimon added.
On October 13, the Basilica of Saint Mary was announced as the winner of the popular vote, receiving a grant of $110,000.
The Twin Cities is the sixth region to host the Partners in Preservation program and receive funding from American Express. The program previously made grants for preservation projects in the San Francisco Bay area, Chicagoland, New Orleans, Greater Boston and the Seattle-Puget Sound area.
For more information on the Partners in Preservation program, click here