Va. Shore heritage center gets $500,000 national grant

The Eastern Shore Public Library’s efforts to preserve the history of the Virginia Shore got a major boost recently with a national grant award of $500,000.

The library foundation will receive the matching grant from the National Endowment of Humanities (NEH).

The foundation is one of 188  humanities projects in 45 states and the District of Columbia to receive grant funding from NEH, which recently announced a total of $30.9 million in grants for this year.

The national grant will support the building project to fund equipment, furnishings and technology not included in the construction contract for the new ESVA Heritage Center and regional library in Parksley, the library said in a release.

“The match will be funds already raised from community fundraising and county and commonwealth funds and that will be spend over the next two years to complete the ESVA Heritage Center,” said library director Cara Burton.