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Recent News
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Fall 2007
Round-Up
"Senator Hutchison Secures Department of Interior Appropriations for Museum"
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Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee,
announced earlier this summer that the committee approved the FY2008 Department
of Interior Appropriations bill, which includes $350,000 Senator Hutchison secured
for the Chisholm Trail Heritage Museum. These appropriations, which were awarded
to the organization as “matching funds,” are earmarked for the restoration of the historic
second floor spaces of the former Knights of Pythias Hall and will be administered through
Save America’s Treasures, a federal program established in 1998.
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Kay Bailey Hutchison
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Community Meeting Spaces an Important Amenity
The second floor of the Hall was
designed for the ceremonial and
recreational needs of the Knights
of Pythias organization, who constructed the Romanesque
Revival building in Cuero in 1903. Measuring approximately
5,000 square feet, the upper floor was designed with several
large spaces, including the organization's meeting, recreation
and dining rooms. Once restored, the board of directors of the
CTHM envisions the upstairs spaces to be utilized as
multi-purpose community facilities. Meetings, lectures,
small conferences, continuing education classes,
traveling exhibits, and children's summer camps, for
example, can be accommodated on the upper floor;
these are community needs that are currently not met.
Save America's Treasures
The Save America's Treasures program, established
approximately nine years ago as a public-private
partnership that included The White House, the
National Park Service and the National Trust for
Historic Preservation, focuses on a "national effort
to protect America's threatened cultural treasures,
including historic structures, collections, works of art,
maps and journals that document and illuminate the
history and culture of the United States. Dedicated
to the preservation and celebration of America’s
priceless historic legacy, Save America's Treasures
works to recognize and rescue the enduring symbols
of American tradition that define us as a nation."
Senator Hutchison remarked, "The Chisholm
Trail Heritage Museum will help preserve Texas'
ranching legacy and this funding will use a
beautiful building for a wonderful new purpose."
The museum organization, together with support
from Senator Hutchison and other local, state and
federal government officials and funding partners,
will succeed in achieving the collective goals of
Save America's Treasures by fostering pride in
our American heritage and educating Americans on
preservation problems facing the buildings, sites,
monuments, objects and documents that represent
America’s diverse cultural legacy.
Our Place in History
Cuero's historic Knights of Pythias Hall was placed on the
National Register in 1986 and is a contributing structure to
Cuero's National Register "Downtown Commercial Historic
District." Also of great importance to Cuero and this region
of Texas, Senator Hutchison sponsored legislation in the U.S.
Senate designating El Camino Real de los Tejas as a National
Historic Trail. President Bush signed the legislation as a means
of protecting the trail and heightening public awareness of its
place in Texas history.
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