(Washington, DC) - The U.S. House of Representatives has passed Sixth District Congressman James E.Clyburn's legislation to expand the authorization of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities Historic Preservation Program.  This bill amends the Omnibus Parks and Public Lands Management Act of 1996 to extend an existing program at the National Parks Service to help pay for the restoration of 712 historic structures on HBCU campuses identified by the General Accounting Office (GAO). 

 "Today the U.S. House of Representatives has affirmed that historic structures on our nation's Historically Black Colleges and University campuses ought to be restored to preserve the rich culture they represent," Congressman Clyburn said.  "This action is the culmination of more than five years of work to address the expansive preservation need on these campuses in a comprehensive and organized way."

 In 1997, Congressman Clyburn coordinated a study with the GAO to determine the projected cost of preserving all threatened historic sites at the 103 HBCU's.  The study took a year to complete and identified 712 historic sites with a projected preservation cost of $755 million.  This bill authorizes no specified dollar amount, but sets the federal limit at 70% of the restoration cost.  The colleges and universities will be required to raise a 30% match. 

Congressman Clyburn believes this authorization will allow the campuses with structures identified for preservation to do strategic planning.  If these schools were able to point to the federal government's commitment to cover 70% of the preservation costs alumni and potential donors would be more amenable to contributing the matching funds for the projects.  The Congressman also believes the schools will derive their incentive from seeing other HBCU structures that have already been restored.

"The HBCU Historic Preservation Program has already had a profound impact on three universities in South Carolina's 6th District: Ministers Hall at Claflin University, Massachusetts Hall at Voorhees College, and Arnett Hall at Allen University," Congressman Clyburn said.  "It has been exciting for me, as a student of history, to see a treasure such as Arnett Hall on Allen University's campus in Columbia, South Carolina saved from the brink of destruction.  This structure was designed by an African-American architect, built by the students themselves, and completed in June 1891.  Now fully restored it shines as a beacon in that part of Columbia."

 The bill now must be passed by the U.S. Senate.  Companion legislation has been introduced in the Senate by Senators Joe Lieberman and  Zell Miller and enjoys strong support with 13 bi-partisan co-sponsors.

Graphic: The South Carolina schools eligible for funding under Congressman Clyburn's bill, with the number of buildings and the dollar amount identified by the 1998 GAO study.

College/University	Number of Eligible Buildings	Cost Estimate
Allen University	6	$10,921,000
Benedict College	6	$4,563,000
Claflin College	5	$1,555,000
Denmark Technical College	4	$1,918,000
South Carolina State University	14	$18,920,000
Voorhees College	10	$9,500,000
Total	45	$47,377,000