THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, August 2, 1995 TAG: 9508010096
SECTION: ISLE OF WIGHT CITIZEN PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ALLISON T. WILLIAMS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ISLE OF WIGHT LENGTH: Medium: 53 lines
A federal grant is putting two of the county's historic attractions on the map.
Fort Boykins and Historic St. Luke's Church are among 58 sites included in a $464,000 ISTEA grant awarded July 22 to the Virginia Civil War Trails, a statewide group of tourism, museum and economic development officials who teamed up to apply for the grant. ISTEA (referred to as ``ice tea'') stands for Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act, which is federal legislation passed in 1991.
Each site is to receive $10,000 - $8,000 in federal money and a $2,000 match in local funds. Isle of Wight County kicked in its $2,000 for Fort Boykins while Historic St. Lukes Foundation put up $2,000 for the church, county Tourism Director Diane Howard said.
Grant stipulations require that all the money be used to fund three specific projects designed to draw more tourists to the historic sites: a map, new signs and site improvements to make the signs more accessible or safer for tourists.
Of each grant, $2,000 is to go toward the publication of a state map that highlights Virginia Civil War sites. Each location will be identified and profiled on the map, which will be distributed at the state's visitors centers.
Howard, a member of the map's design committee, said the group also is considering developing an audio tape tourists could buy and listen to as they reach each site. Proceeds from the tape sales would then be reinvested in promoting the sites.
Most of each grant - $5,000 - is to be used to erect signs directing tourists to the sites. All signs funded by the grant would be in the same colors and style so tourists would recognize them as they travel from one historic site to another, Howard said.
The remaining $3,000 is to finance site improvements for the signs. For example, this money could be used to build road pull-offs so tourists could stop and read the signs safely.
It will take about a year before any work at the historic sites will begin, Howard estimated.
He said he is confident the grant will bring more Civil War buffs to Isle of Wight County. Virginia tourism officials are aggressively promoting the state's Civil War sites to an international market, Howard said.
``As much as some people would like to forget the Civil War ever happened, it is a huge drawing card for tourists, particularly those from England and Europe.'' by CNB