Foundation allocates $500,000 to Blue Ridge Parkway projects & programs

As the primary fundraiser for the Blue Ridge Parkway, the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation announced on Thursday that they will be providing $500,000 in funding for park projects and programs.

Superintendent of the Parkway, Phil Francis, told the BRP Foundation that, “The staff of the Parkway and I are very grateful to the Foundation for their very generous contribution to fund a variety of important needs that we have this year. Without their support, we would not be able to fund projects and programs that help us serve Parkway visitors, educate young people, and protect the Parkway for future generations.”

The bulk of those funds will support three key projects this year:

* $200,000 will go towards the construction of a new 1,200 square foot communications center building at the Blue Ridge Parkway Headquarters in Asheville. The building will house the Parkway’s interagency dispatch operation which forms the vital link and nerve center for the system of 34 microwave transmitters and receivers at ten locations serving the entire park (plus 2 NC state parks, US Forest Service, Veteran’s Administration, and King’s Mountain NMP with vital radio service).

* $105,000 will be allocated to Parks As Classrooms, one of the flagship programs funded each year by the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation since 1998.

* $65,000 will be needed to purchase portable (handheld) radios and a base station in order to access the North Carolina Voice Interoperability Project (Plan) for Emergency Responders.

To view all the other projects the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation will be funding this year, please click here.


Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com