NEW PALTZ – State Senator Michelle Hinchey (D, Saugerties) announced Thursday that a $2 million New York State Council of the Arts grant has been awarded to the Huguenot Historical Society for the creation of a new education and visitor center.
“Out of all of the NYSCA grants that have come to the Hudson Valley,” said Hinchey, only two received seven figures, and historic Huguenot Street is one of them.”
The Huguenot Historical Society has 28 buildings, including many stone structures more than 300 years old, spread across 10 acres on the western edge of the village, and a study concluded that the fragile nature of these buildings, to include modern amenities and ADA compliance, necessitated a modern facility to serve the education needs of the public.
“We’ve been studying our historic structures for over a decade now,” said Liselle LaFrance, president and CEO of the Huguenot Historical Society. “We were trying to accomplish too much with the structures.”
The $2 million state grant gives the organization $5.6 million toward the cost of the $7million education center, with the remaining $1.4 million still to be raised.
Once the center receives permission from the village, it will be built off Broadhead Avenue, along the Wallkill Valley Rail Trail, on a vacant parcel that once housed a candle factory long ago.
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