COLUMBUS – Eight matching grants totaling $100,000 have been awarded through the Ohio Heritage Area Program.
About the program.
The program is a unique partnership of state agencies and statewide organizations working collectively to increase visitor spending in Ohio by spotlighting the state’s historic, cultural and natural assets.
“We are pleased to announce these grants, which will allow four heritage areas to engage in planning, development and marketing activities designed to maximize the economic impact of tourism throughout the state,” interim state development director Joseph C. Robertson said.
“The program educates our residents and tourists on Ohio’s rich historic, cultural and natural assets, while generating visitor spending in heritage area communities.”
Grant recipients.
This year’s recipients include:
* Ohio’s Historic West, a seven-county heritage area in northwest Ohio known as the American Experience, $7,000
* Ohio’s Hill Country – Friends of Freedom, underground railroad preservation project, $8,950
* Ohio’s Hill Country – Little Cities of Black Diamonds, coal mining interpretive project, $11,000
* Ohio’s Hill Country – Northern Gateway to Appalachia, including Holmes, Tuscarawas and Coshocton counties, $12,050
* Ohio’s Hill Country – Edge of Appalachia, including Adams, Brown, Highland and Scioto counties, $15,500
* Lake Erie Circle Tour, $25,500
* Ohio & Erie Canal National Heritage Corridor, $10,000
* Ohio & Erie Canal National Heritage Corridor – Tuscarawas Canal Lands Development Center, $10,000.
The program is administered by the Ohio Department of Development’s Division of Travel and Tourism and designates communities as heritage areas to encourage the preservation of cultural resources for tourism and other economic opportunities.
What are heritage areas?
Heritage areas are defined as communities with a distinctive sense of place unified by large-scale resources, such as rivers, lakes or streams, canal systems, historic roads or trails and railroads.
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