Aug. 9—The public Monday will have an opportunity to weigh in on upcoming plans for historical preservation, interpretation and programming along the six-county Lincoln Highway Heritage Corridor.
Working with New Jersey-
based consultant Relevant Strategies & Solutions, the transportation-focused heritage organization will present ideas for updating its Management Action Plan (MAP) — covering the 200-mile section of the original 1913 Lincoln Highway route from Westmoreland County east through Adams County
and the communities that border it.
The presentation and a question-and-answer session are set for 3 to 4 p.m. in The Palace Theatre’s Meghan’s Suite, in downtown Greensburg. Admission is free. Advance registration is requested by visiting surveymonkey.com/r/YFGSDNR.
The MAP, which is required for receiving state funding through the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, has not been updated since the Lincoln Highway heritage group was formed in 1995.
Executive Director Kimberly Cady said the group also is updating its interpretive plan, which was last completed in 2000.
“The MAP covers what we want to do and the interpretive plan provides the guidelines of how we go about doing it,” Cady said. Once the updates are completed, she said, “We’re ready to go full steam ahead with both plans.”
Cady said goals for the heritage corridor include building upon relationships among its Lincoln Highway Experience museum in Unity and partner organizations along the highway. That might include an exchange of traveling exhibits or lecture topics.
“We’re looking at how we can coalesce the museum with the general corridor aspect of our work,” she said.
The Lincoln Highway Heritage Corridor is one of 12 state-designated heritage areas meant to promote economic development along with various historic, cultural and natural assets.
Cady said the Lincoln Highway corridor group is studying the feasibility of an eastward expansion that could include two more counties: York and Lancaster.
Those counties, which already are part of the Susquehanna National Heritage Area, would then have dual representation, she said — one focused on transportation heritage and another involved with activities and conservation along the Susquehanna River.
Area residents unable to attend Monday’s meeting in Greensburg, can register for either of two virtual sessions, set for noon to 1 p.m. Aug. 19 and 21.
Cady said the updated MAP, once reviewed by state officials, could be finalized sometime in October.
Jeff Himler is a TribLive reporter covering Greater Latrobe, Ligonier Valley, Mt. Pleasant Area and Derry Area school districts and their communities. He also reports on transportation issues. A journalist for more than three decades, he enjoys delving into local history. He can be reached at jhimler@triblive.com.