First Lady Announces $870,000 in Donations to Preserve
Historic Ellis Island Buildings

ELLIS ISLAND – In an effort to preserve one of America’s most significant cultural landmarks, First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton today announced $870,000 in public and private donations to restore deteriorating buildings on historic Ellis Island. Mrs. Clinton visited the island as part of the "Save America’s Treasures" program, an ongoing effort to protect the nation’s most important – and threatened – sites and objects.

Mrs. Clinton was joined by Sens. Frank Lautenberg, D-NJ, and Bob Graham, D-FL, and Rep. Nita Lowey, D-NY, in making the announcement.

A new Save America’s Treasures grant of $500,000, officially announced by President Clinton on July 7 at a ceremony in Washington, D.C., will support restoration of the roof and masonry and replacement of windows and doors at the Laundry and Hospital Outbuilding on the south side of the island. This year’s grant is in addition to last year’s Save America’s Treasures grant of $1,145,975 to help stabilize and restore the Ferry Building. The First Lady also announced $370,000 in new private funding that will complete the restoration of the interior of the Ferry Building.

The federal Save America’s Treasures grants require a dollar-for-dollar match, and the State of New Jersey’s Save Ellis Island! Foundation has already identified the match for the Ferry Building grant and has guaranteed the match for the new grant to the Hospital Building.

Ellis Island was the country’s principal immigration station from 1892 to 1954. An estimated 40 percent of Americans trace their roots to ancestors arriving through the historic site. The Laundry and Hospital Outbuilding, vacant for decades, is in extremely poor condition with a collapsed roof and major structural damage. The Ferry Building was the site where immigrants took their first steps on American soil and officials separated the apparently healthy from the sick.

President and Mrs. Clinton kicked off the Save America’s Treasures program in 1998 at an event announcing the restoration of the Star Spangled Banner in Washington, D.C. The program helps communities around the country maintain and restore their historic sites and objects in this millennial time. Nearly $50 million in private funds have been raised to supplement the $60 million in federal grants awarded this year and last. Save America’s Treasures is a public-private partnership of the White House Millennium Council, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and the National Park Service. Ellis Island is one of the more than 550 national and local historic sites, collections, objects and documents that have been designated as official projects of the Save America’s Treasures program.

Mrs. Clinton has visited 41 Save America’s Treasures sites to help increase public awareness of our nation’s urgent preservation needs. An estimated $2 billion is still needed to address the restoration and conservation needs of other Save America’s Treasures sites.

THE NATIONAL TRUST FOR HISTORIC PRESERVATION

The National Trust for Historic Preservation is a private, nonprofit membership organization dedicated to protecting the irreplaceable. With more than a quarter million members nationwide, it provides leadership, education and advocacy to save America's diverse historic places and revitalize communities. For more information, visit the National Trust's Web site at www.nationaltrust.org.

THE WHITE HOUSE MILLENNIUM COUNCIL

The White House Millennium Council was established in 1997 by President and Mrs. Clinton to encourage communities around the country to mark the milestone of the new millennium in meaningful and lasting ways that "Honor the Past and Imagine the Future." For more information, visit the Millennium Council's Web site at www.whitehouse.gov/Initiatives/Millennium.

THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE