Park Service Awards $750k to Bard College

ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON – The National Parks Service (NPS) has announced that Bard College has been chosen as a recipient of a $750,000 Save America’s Treasures grant through the Historic Preservation Fund (HPF). This prestigious award will help support the restoration of the Montgomery Place Mansion, a National Historic Landmark owned by Bard College. The grant funding will support structural repairs to the exterior of the building in order to restore its integrity and resiliency for future preservation.

“As stewards of this historic property, we’re gratified that the National Park Service has recognized the importance of Montgomery Place and awarded us this generous grant to support its ongoing restoration and conservation,” said Bard College President Leon Botstein.

The work at Montgomery Place Mansion will include a comprehensive assessment of the structural conditions and will help secure the long-term preservation of the building, its finishes, and its collections. Following completion of the structural assessment and a comprehensive onsite evaluation of the building envelope, restoration work will begin focusing on the mansion roof, drainage, north- and east-facing porches, as well as exterior paint.

Montgomery Place, a 380-acre estate adjacent to the main Bard College campus and overlooking the Hudson River, is a designated National Historic Landmark set amid rolling lawns, woodlands, and gardens, against the spectacular backdrop of the Catskill Mountains. The mansion is part of the Hudson River Historic District and plays a crucial role in defining the region’s unique cultural landscape, and the estate site functions as a microcosm of American landscape history, evolving through the centuries to its latest reincarnation as an integrated part of the Bard College campus. Bard is committed to conserving the Montgomery Place Mansion and its significant historic and cultural collection, along with the landscape, farm, and public access to this unique and extraordinary site.

Established in 1977, the Historic Preservation Fund has provided more than $2 billion in historic preservation grants to states, Tribes, local governments and non-profit organizations. Administered by the NPS, Congress appropriates from the HPF to support a variety of historic preservation projects to help preserve the nation’s cultural resources and history.