The Brown-Stetson-Sanford House has also been recognized by the board for past grants, having been awarded a grant of $5,000 to Georgia’s Old Capital Museum Society to restore an upstairs bedroom in 2007.

Grants are renewable on a yearly basis, and the board functions as part of the educational programming at the Old Governor’s Mansion, which itself is a unit of Georgia College & State University.

“Everything about the Brown-Stetson-Sanford House is very personal to me. I’m delighted the board has recognized the significance of the house and the importance of preserving it,” Wright said.

Wright added she didn’t believe that once the money is made available that the plaster project would impact any tourism-related activities or visits to the site and that the job could even be done in “as little as a few weeks” depending on contractor scheduling.

Wright estimated the full cost for the restoration and plaster removal project of the house at more than $15,000.

“I’m already researching for more grants to help with the cost,” Wright said Thursday.

Grant applications to the Milledgeville Junior Board were written in late February and were due for submission by March 3.

Last year there were 15 applications requesting more than $150,000 in grants. In 2007 the board provided more than $25,000 in grant money to the Middle Georgia area.

Projects are selected by the board via a list of selected sites. The students then break into two-person teams and visit the sites, then come together at a later date to discuss their findings.

The Milledgeville Junior Board for Historic Preservation considers applications from 11 counties within Middle Georgia, including Baldwin, Putnam, Morgan, Jasper, Hancock, Monroe, Jones, Washington, Bibb, Wilkinson and Twiggs counties.

For more information about this program, call Matt Davis, assistant curator of education and coordinator of the Junior Board project, or Jim Turner at (478) 445-4545.

“I continue to be very grateful to the Watson Brown Foundation for their generous support of the Junior Board,” Jim Turner, mansion director, stated. “The board remains one of our most important educational outreach programs.”