BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Moravian University has gotten a $750,000 National Park Service grant to fund what it called "a vital preservation project" at the Second Single Brethren’s House.
The grant will be used to help replace all 91 windows with historically accurate, insulated glass and wood models to "enhance the building’s energy efficiency while preserving its historical integrity," Moravian said in a release.
The grant for the project at the building at 99 W. Church St., comes from the Semiquincentennial Grant Program of the Historic Preservation Fund, administered by the U.S. Interior Department's National Park Service.
“This grant from the National Park Service is perfectly timed, following Moravian Church Settlements-Bethlehem recent World Heritage inscription and preceding the upcoming 250th Anniversary of the United States.”Moravian President Bryon Grigsby
The Second Single Brethren’s House is "a key structure" in the Moravian Church Settlements–Bethlehem World Heritage Site, the release said.
“This grant from the National Park Service is perfectly timed, following Moravian Church Settlements-Bethlehem recent World Heritage inscription and preceding the upcoming 250th Anniversary of the United States,” Moravian President Bryon Grigsby said.
Grigsby is a member of the World Heritage Council and Commission.
“The Second Single Brethren’s House is a living piece of history, still used by our students today, making its preservation as part of a World Heritage site critically important.”
The Second Single Bethren’s House, built in 1748, is Bethlehem’s largest and most ambitious eighteenth-century building, according to the release.
It's "a prime example of German Colonial architecture" in the United States, it says.
Established in 2020, the Semiquincentennial Grant Program commemorates the 250th anniversary of the United States by supporting the restoration and preservation of historic sites listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Key aspects of the preservation project include preservation of a National Historic Landmark within the Historic Moravian Bethlehem Historic District and enhancement of one of nine structures included in the UNESCO-listed Moravian Church Settlements-Bethlehem World Heritage Site, the release says.
