16th Street Baptist Church seeks public votes to get historic preservation grant
Birmingham’s Sixteenth Street Baptist Church is seeking $150,000 in grant money in a national competition to help preserve its cupola, bell towers and stained glass windows.
Birmingham residents can go online to aid the church in its quest.
The historic church —the site of a racist bombing in 1963 that killed four little girls and drew worldwide attention at the peak of the Civil Rights Movement — is one of 20 finalists across America competing for a share of $2 million in grant money in the annual Partners in Preservation campaign, according to a news release from REV Birmingham.
Partners in Preservation was created by the National Trust for Historic Preservation and American Express to raise awareness of the importance of preserving historic places and their role in sustaining local communities.. The two organizations collaborate in the campaign with Main Street America.
This year’s Partners in Preservation competition focuses on sites that celebrate diversity and the fight for equality.
Winners will be decided through online public voting, which began Sept. 24 and continues through Oct. 26.
People can cast their votes at voteyourmainstreet.org, a website sponsored by National Geographic.
They can also vote for the church at 16thstreetbaptist.org or by texting “MAINSTREET” to 52886.
If the church wins, they would use the $150,000 to install protective glass on the outside of its stained glass windows, which were restored recently. It would also make repairs to the cupola and twin bell towers.
REV Birmingham, which is a Main Street America organization, nominated the church for this year’s competition