Tobacco Barns Summit Reconvenes After Five Years


CROWNSVILLE (Jan. 22, 2010) - The public is invited to attend an afternoon presentation and discussion about the past, present and future of the many tobacco barns in Southern Maryland.

The three hour meeting will take place on Sunday, January 31st at the Calvert County Library in Prince Frederick beginning at 1:00 pm. The summit will feature a presentation on the history of tobacco barns, tobacco barn reuse success stories, a showcase of available resources for barns, as well as an opportunity for the public to brainstorm about the future of the barns.

The meeting will be convened by a coalition of representatives from the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the Maryland Historical Trust, Preservation Maryland, the Southern Maryland Heritage Area Consortium, and Anne Arundel, Calvert, Charles, Prince George's, and St. Mary's counties that was formed to support barn owners in their efforts to preserve, rehabilitate, and reuse these significant landmarks that are now often abandoned and deteriorating due to the significant decline in tobacco cultivation.

In the five years since the first summit, the coalition has worked hard to promote barn preservation. It created the Tobacco Barn Restoration Fund, which preserved 31 historically significant barns, compiled a history of tobacco barns, created a contractor list for barn owners and held educational events and programming highlighting the importance of the barns to Southern Maryland's history and to the preservation of agricultural land. This follow up summit will highlight activities of the coalition and solicit input for future coalition work.

The library is located at 850 Costley Way, Prince Frederick, 20678. The library is in a shopping plaza off Route 4, across from the hospital. Phone contact for the library is: 410-535-0291 or 301-855-1862 and their web site is: http://www.calvert.lib.md.us/ . Inclement weather date is Sunday Feb. 14th, same time. No reservations are necessary to attend this event.

The Maryland Historical Trust is an agency of the Maryland Department of Planning. The MHT was formed in 1961 to assist the people of Maryland in identifying, studying, evaluating, preserving, protecting, and interpreting the state's significant prehistoric and historic districts, sites, structures, cultural landscapes, heritage areas, cultural objects, and artifacts, as well as less tangible human and community traditions. Visit http://planning.maryland.gov/ .

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