Grants Aim to Preserve 14 Aging Tobacco Barns

Source from:  By William Wan Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, June 15, 2006; Page A 06/16/2006

Weathered by rain, age and neglect, tobacco barns in Anne Arundel and four other Southern Maryland counties could become the beneficiaries of grants worth tens of thousands of dollars -- money intended to help preserve the prominent, and endangered, symbols of the area's agricultural history. Fourteen barn owners already have been selected to receive grants in the first year of the joint federal and state program. Organizers said they will announce the recipients once the final details of each grant are complete. Save America's Treasures, a National Park Service preservation program, allocated $200,000 for the structures. The nonprofit group Preservation Maryland, which added $30,000 to the cause, was given the responsibility of choosing individual barns to receive the funds. "Traditionally, Save America's Treasures goes to individual recipients like a museum or park, but with us, it's going toward a whole category of recipients, which has made it a little more complicated," said Connie Anderton, spokeswoman for Preservation Maryland. From January to the March deadline, the group received more than 200 inquiries and 50 applications from five counties that the program considers part of Southern Maryland: Calvert, Charles, St. Mary's, Prince George's and Anne Arundel. A nine-member committee was set up with representatives from each county and various preservation groups to choose the grant winners. "We made a score sheet," said Joshua Phillips, director of preservation services for Preservation Maryland. "We judged by public visibility of the barn, historical significance, urgency and threat to the barn and whether it continues to be used." The committee will continue distributing the grants until the funds run out, which will probably be in three years, but preservationists hope the work being done now will help them attract more funds. The barns selected for the inaugural grants vary in age from about 60 years to more than two centuries. The grant amounts, which must be matched by the recipient, range from $1,000 to $10,000. One $10,000 grant will go to a large barn at Greenwell State Park in St. Mary's County. Situated in the 600-acre park along the Patuxent River, the structure is believed to be the oldest hewn log barn still standing anywhere in the county. "This is part of history and a way of life," said Kendall Sorenson-Clark, director of the Greenwell Foundation, a nonprofit organization that helps the state government run the park. The Greenwell tobacco barn dates to the 18th century, and over the years, four additions were built around it to stable farm animals and store equipment. The additions have helped protect the original structure, which still stands on its original timbers and log walls. Water damage and termites, however, have taken their toll on some of the planks and rafters, and the red tin roof is now largely rusted. At the park, which is on land that was donated to the state in the 1970s with the stipulation that it be accessible to people with disabilities, the barn houses a historical display with antique farm tools. A huge, screwlike machine sits facing the entrance, and a placard nearby explains it was once used to tightly pack tobacco leaves into barrels. "Without these kinds of barns and places, people won't know much of the agriculture history that made this area what it is today," Sorenson-Clark told a visitor to the park. "That's why the funding and restoration is important." The barn received $30,000 from the state Department of Natural Resources recently, and that money is paying to coat the roof with a foam to prevent water damage in the wood. The park's managers plan to use the coming $10,000 grant to remedy termite damage and replace some rotted support posts. The park also has applied for a governor's grant to start a self-sustaining volunteer program that would focus on restoring the barn. Another barn that sits just yards away is an example, Sorenson-Clark said, of what happens when such historic barns are abandoned. Storm winds have torn away a large chunk of its roof. Wooden beams have been overtaken by wild vines at the top and eaten away by rot at the bottom. "With a lack of funding and time, you have to pick and choose what you're going to save," Sorenson-Clark said. "It's sad, but you can't save everything." It is a fate many of Maryland's tobacco barns face, said Phillips, of Preservation Maryland. Because they are made of timber, the structures are vulnerable to insects, moisture and wind. But the biggest threat is neglect. The slow death of the tobacco industry has meant there is less need for such barns as each year passes. The curing racks in many such barns are built into the structure and can't be removed to make way for alternative uses. Still more help may be on the way. The Maryland General Assembly recently passed a bill to establish a $300,000 Maryland Barn Preservation Fund for all types of historic barns. Preservation Maryland also is planning a survey to figure out how many tobacco barns are left in Southern Maryland and what condition they are in. "There's a historical significance at stake here," Phillips said. "A lot of people are fighting to save that." Enditem