Photo by Matt Johnson
With one day left for the public to vote, two of 24 landmarks vying for a historic preservation grant are well ahead of the rest of the field. The vote, put on by the National Trust for Historic Preservation and sponsored by American Express, is pitting two dozen D.C.-area sites—some famous, some only locally treasured—in a popularity contest. The winning location gets its grant application fully funded out of a $1 million fund.
When the contest launched, the Washington National Cathedral, which is asking for funds to patch up its nave vaulting, jumped out to an early lead. The contest is scored according to points generated by tweets, Instagram photos, and Foursquare check-ins, and direct clicks on the contest’s website.
Since the vote opened, many of the competing sites also put up campaign-style yard signs. But with a bit more than 24 hours before the vote closes, it’s shaping up to two-location race between the National Cathedral and George Washington’s estate at Mount Vernon, Va., where the main dining room is in need of “major restoration.”
But those two are the nationally known landmarks. There are many others further back in the field that, while not magnets for tourists from all over the world, are treasured by locals. Sixth and I Historic Synagogue, currently in a distant third place—the National Cathedral and Mount Vernon have both accumulated over 1.1 million points—is asking for the grant money to fix up its stained-glass windows.
Many locals are rallying behind the Greenbelt Theatre. The 75-year-old single-screen movie house in Prince George’s County needs to fix up its once-ornate lobby. Contemporary multiplexes can be big and shiny, but they’re rather devoid of character. But the Greenbelt Theatre is currently in a long-shot fourth place, with just 452,000 points racked up.
The winning site does not get the whole $1 million kitty, but it is guaranteed to have its grant request fully funded. (All the projects are estimated at $100,000 or less). Other sites jockeying for a share include Meridian Hill Park, All Souls Unitarian Church, and Georgetown University’s Heyden Observatory.
