Paulsdale, tucked away on Hooton Road, is a sight to behold once you see it in person, but it’s also somewhat easy to mss if you’re not looking for it, or if you are.
That’s why members of the Alice Paul Institute are hoping that a historic preservation grant will help them lead history buffs, and other people hoping to visit or attend one of the many events they host throughout the year, to the right destination.
Paulsdale has been recommended by Gov. Chris Christie to receive a $20,000 historic preservation grant from the New Jersey Historic Trust. Along with Sunnyside Farms in Mt. Laurel, the historic sites are among 58 throughout the state that the governor recommended to receive funds.
Paulsdale: Revealing the Hidden Gem is the name of the project. If ultimately awarded the grant, members of the Alice Paul Institute would use the money to fund a study that woulxd figure out where to place signage that would best help people locate the historic landmark.
“One of the problems we have is that people sometimes have trouble finding us because we’re tucked away in a residential area,” Alice Paul Institute Executive Director Valerie Buickerood said.
The grant would allow the institute to employ the help of a consultant, who would help the organization figure out where to strategically place signage en route to Paulsdale, so that it’s most effective in leading people there.
Buickerood said the ultimate goal is to draw in a larger crowd, something that would benefit the entire Mt. Laurel community and perhaps bring people to visit other local historic landmarks and attractions.
Christie’s list of recommended projects is scheduled to go before the Garden State Preservation Trust on May 4 for ratification. The ratified projects will then move on to state Legislature for approval.
“The Historic Trust continues to make great strides in preserving New Jersey’s important cultural and historic sites,” Christie said in a statement. “These grant awards are indicative of our comprehensive efforts to grow the Garden State economy by spurring investment, generating jobs and attracting tourism opportunities to these areas.”
The New Jersey Historic Trust administers the grants from the Garden State Historic Preservation Trust Fund, which was created to promote historic preservation and encourage joint preservation efforts by the public and private sectors. It funds capital projects and planning projects for historic preservation across the state.
Funding for the current grant round is dedicated from voter-approved referendums in 2007 and 2009, which continues the decade-long funding under the Garden State Preservation Trust, an initiative to preserve open space, farmland and historic sites.
