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Chico Museum gets $3 million grant
10:31 am US/Pacific SACRAMENTO (AP) Seven northern California cultural and historic sites will receive nearly $18 million in one of the initial allocations from the state's first dedicated bond fund for such purposes, the Davis administration announced Sunday. The $17.9 million will not only help restore the sites, but help the communities economically by drawing tourists, said Resources Secretary Mary Nichols. Voters' approval of Proposition 40 in March let the state borrow $2.6 billion to improve air and water quality, fund state and local parks and protect water resources. Of that, $267 million was set aside for cultural and historic projects. Several of the northern California projects reflect what acting state Parks Director Ruth Coleman called a new trend in linking the natural and cultural environment. For instance, $3 million will go to build a Northern California Natural History Museum in Chico next to the historic Bidwell Mansion. The museum being developed with California State University, Chico, has as its mission helping visitors ``explore, celebrate, and conserve'' the natural resources of northern California. Redding's Turtle Bay Exploration Park Museum will receive $10 million to continue development of the 300-acre park and museum complex spanning the Sacramento River. The community is marketing the complex as a draw to tourists heading north to Lake Shasta, nearby mountains, and to Oregon. Redding also will get $500,000 to restore the Cascade Theater, built in 1935 as a movie palace and vaudeville stage, and convert it to a performing arts center. An additional $150,000 will help preserve the city's oldest church by relocating and renovating the 108-year-old building. Another $3 million will go to create the Lake Oroville Historic-Cultural Trail, connecting historic ``Old Oroville,'' the City Museum, the Chinese Temple, and the Lott House. Weaverville will get $1 million to build a community theater for use by the 40-year-old nonprofit Trinity Players. Finally, $250,000 will let the Red Bluff Rotary Foundation complete its conversion of the former Clock Tower site into a park. The only previous announced allocation of Proposition 40 funds was last month, when Gov. Gray Davis announced $12 million from propositions 40 and 13 would help restore the San Diego River. In Sunday's announcement, Davis called the new funding ``investments'' that ``are good for the North State. They're good for the environment. And they're good for our children's future.'' ( |
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