ECKLEY MINERS’ VILLAGE AWARDED WILLARY FOUNDATION GRANT

Eckley Miners’ Village has been awarded a $17,000 Willary Foundation grant to design an interdisciplinary research center and overnight lodging in two of the historic site’s 19th-century homes. The project is part of an initiative to preserve Eckley’s historic structures by selectively adapting them for contemporary uses.

Jacobs Wyper Architects completed initial designs for the 2,500-foot research center in July 2023. The plans describe laboratories, classrooms, conference space and other facilities that would accommodate work in a range of academic disciplines including archaeology, earth sciences, public history, and geography. Nearby lodging would house research partners on site during field school and long-term projects, encouraging deeper engagement with the village, its visitors, and its surrounding communities and landscapes.

The lodging will also prototype a new revenue model for the village that could be replicated in additional historic homes.

Improved research facilities will benefit Eckley’s exhibits and programs by fostering innovative thinking about the anthracite region’s cultural and environmental legacies, strengthening the museum’s relationships with nearby educational institutions, and involving current and future generations of students in the preservation and study of Northeastern Pennsylvania’s important heritage.

The Willary Foundation grant will partially match a $48,000 National Endowment for the Humanities award that the Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission, Eckley’s parent organization, received in June 2023.