BOEMRE Awards $1 Million for Mississippi Waterfront Land
Grant will Fund Acquisition, Restoration of Historic Charnley-Norwood Property
NEW ORLEANS – The Bureau of
Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE)
announced today that it has awarded a $1,045,400 Coastal Impact
Assistance Program (CIAP) grant to the Mississippi Department of
Marine Resources (MDMR). The grant will provide funding for the
acquisition of the Charnley-Norwood Property, a parcel of waterfront
land in Ocean Springs, Miss. The proposal will include the
restoration of an historic century-old structure on the property, as
well as the development of a future public land use plan to restore
the waterfront parcel to a community green space and public museum.
Created
by the Energy Policy Act of 2005, CIAP provides
funding to the six Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) oil and gas
producing states to conserve and protect the coastal environment. CIAP
is an ongoing program with grant funding that is allocated based on
the offshore energy revenues collected by the United States.
“CIAP provides
valuable, ongoing support to states and their coastal communities,”
said BOEMRE Director Michael R. Bromwich. “These grants enable us to
partner with Mississippi and its coastal counties to fund vital
restoration, development and public use initiatives that will help
preserve our historic coastal landmarks and natural green space
areas for many years to come.”
The grant will fund the proposed
acquisition of the Charnley-Norwood Property, located in the city of
Ocean Springs on East Beach Drive in Jackson County. The MDMR seeks
to place a restrictive covenant on the property, and acquire the
parcel for the planned restoration of the site as a historical
landmark and nature area. A management and restoration plan will be
prepared as part of the project, which will include the renovation
of the area to a waterfront community green space. In addition, the
parcel’s existing structure, built in 1897 as a single family
residence, will be restored and opened to the general public as a
museum.
CIAP received $250 million in
appropriated funds for each of the Fiscal Years 2007-2010, to be
disbursed to six eligible OCS oil and gas producing states:
Mississippi, Alabama, Alaska, California, Louisiana and Texas.
Contact: BOEMRE
Public Affairs-Gulf