Sorry, you need to enable JavaScript to visit this website.
Article Image Alt Text

Backed by the historic First Baptist Church Josie Falletta from the Main Street Program speaks into a microphone for a Facebook live video launching the voting campaign to win a preservation grant. Daily Record photo by Denise Cathey

First Baptist Church in running for restoration grant

Monday, September 24, 2018

You can help the historic First Baptist Church on Martin Luther King Drive win $150,000 for restoration efforts – and all you need is an email address.

The San Marcos Main Street Program has applied for a grant from Partners in Preservation to help restore the church, which is more than 100 years old. The church is one of 20 projects in the running for grant money, and winners are determined by votes.

“We’re really excited about it,” said Josie Falletta from the Main Street Program.

Falletta said the church restoration is up against preservation projects in New York City, Los Angeles, Miami and Memphis, among other big cities.

“We’re small fries,” she said, noting that by population, San Marcos ranks 14th out of 20. “However, we’re the only project in Texas.”

Main Street is asking everyone to register and vote between Sept. 25 and Oct. 26. Participants need to visit voteyourmainstreet.org/sanmarcos, create an account, verify their email address and vote for the project. Each email address gets to vote five times a day, every day, during the campaign, Falletta said, and anyone with an email address anywhere in the world can vote. The top 10 projects will all receive funding.

“All we have to do is make it to the top 10,” Falletta said.

The Main Street Program has an auxiliary office set up at the Cephas House, right next to the historic church, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. today to answer questions about the voting campaign and help people create accounts to vote.

Main Street is also asking people to visit the event website, https://landmarkofhope.splashthat.com/, and spread word of the campaign on social media and in any other networks they have access to. The Facebook event for the campaign can be found at https://bit.ly/2DyY1Q6.

Moreover, Ramika Adams from The Calaboose African-American History Museum said that individuals wishing to donate to the restoration project can do so at the museum’s Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/CalabooseMuseum/.

“There is an opportunity for everyone to get involved.”

The National Trust for Historic Preservation, Main Street America and American Express are bringing $2 million in preservation funding to projects through a public participation process that will raise awareness of the work being done across the country to revitalize Main Streets and neighborhood districts in small towns, mid-sized cities, and urban centers across the country.

San Marcos Record

(512) 392-2458
P.O. Box 1109, San Marcos, TX 78666