At a press conference, the Virginia Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission announced that the Birthplace of Country Music Alliance (BCMA) had been awarded a grant in the amount of $125,544 to assist with the planning and design of the new Birthplace of Country Music Cultural Heritage Center.
Delegate Joseph Johnson, Tobacco Commission member, was on hand to present this award to the BCMA. “It is always a pleasure to provide assistance to organizations such as the Birthplace of County Music Alliance, which enrich our community while attracting visitors to our region,” stated Delegate Johnson. “On behalf of the Tobacco Commission I look forward to seeing this Cultural Heritage Center develop and prosper.”
“We are grateful to the members of the Tobacco Commission for their support in helping help us get this project off the ground,” commented Bill Hartley, Executive Director of the Birthplace of Country Music Alliance. He added that the funds awarded today will leverage additional support to allow the project to move forward.
In September 2004, culminating a months-long strategic initiative, the Birthplace of Country Music Alliance announced that local businessman Steve Johnson donated a 24,000 square foot historic structure in downtown Bristol, Virginia. Upon completion, the cultural heritage center will provide the Birthplace of Country Music Alliance with a new, permanent facility to house its operations, including the museum, educational programs, and artistic programming, in furtherance of the organization’s mission.
Noting that the new facility would be major stop along the Crooked Road: Virginia’s Music Heritage Trail, Hartley added that “the timing for the development of this center could not be better, as it will create a resource for the region that will have a tremendous impact while helping to preserve our unique culture and heritage.” Upon completion, the center will serve as a major tourist destination for the region, to draw at least 75,000 visitors per year while projected to result in a direct economic impact of $5,411,625, sustaining 162 jobs.
The Birthplace of Country Music Alliance is a non-profit organization dedicated to the music and culture of Appalachia and the role played by the region in the development of Country Music. The BCMA is funded in part by grants from the Virginia Commission for the Arts and the Tennessee Arts Commission.
Listings of the Tobacco Commission’s recent awards and funding programs are available at www.vatobaccocommission.org [1]. The Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission is a 31-member body created by the 1999 General Assembly. It has, as a significant part of its mission, the promotion of economic growth and development in tobacco-dependent communities. Through FY2003 the Commission has awarded over $120 million in grants across the Commonwealth.