Many of you know that it took from 1900 to 1921 to raise the money to save the First White House and have it moved from the downtown corner of Lee & Bibb streets to the present location at 644 Washington Ave. A benevolent Governor found the money ($25,000) and that enabled us to complete the first major restoration project.
You may not know though, that we have gone through three additional major restorations since that move was made, and guess what? It took big money every time!
In 1973 the second floor had been condemned. It took $ 250,000 to do the structural restoration necessary. It was closed from April, 1976 until December 11th of that year when a gala reopening took place. We begged for the money and it was forthcoming.
The next major project was the 1997 exterior lead paint abatement project An ISTEA Federal Grant was obtained to complete the funding that the Finance Dept. arranged for us and we were once again "on our way".
The last major project was the 2007-8 heating and cooling interior restoration. Our thanks once again to the Finance Department and especially the Finance Director. for the funding, and to the Service Division for their tireless efforts on our behalf. We are extremely grateful!
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