CHICAGO — The Pullman National Monument on the Far South Side is in the running for a $250,000 preservation grant — but it needs your help to secure the funds.
The national monument — the country's newest — is one of 20 national monuments or parks that could receive a slice of of $2 million in grant funds from Partners In Preservation, a partnership between the National Trust for Historic Preservation and corporate partners like American Express and National Geographic.
The top 8 vote earners will each get $250,000 in grant funding to be used on preservation projects at the parks or monuments, the group said in a press release.
The finalists will be selected by popular vote. People can visit VoteYourPark.org and place up to five votes per day. Voters are then eligible to enter a sweepstakes for a chance to win a trip to Yellowstone National Park, the group said.
The Pullman industrial community was named a national monument in 2015, thanks in part to a $8 million fundraising effort and a little help from President Barack Obama.
Pullman is the smallest and newest of the 20 sites selected for the competition, and will be going up against some famous and historic sites like Yellowstone, Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Mount Rushmore and Everglades National Park.
If it finishes in the top 8, the Pullman National Monument will use its $250,000 to help preserve and transform the Pullman Administration Building into a visitor's center, according to the preservation group.
The visitor's center is slated to open on Labor Day 2018, and renderings of the area give clues as to what it could look like.
The contest is being held in honor of the National Park Service's centennial that is being celebrated this summer.
Once considered "the world's most perfect town," the area was something of a self-sustaining company town where workers building George Pullman's train cars lived, worked and played. It is also known for the struggle the Pullman Porters endured to unionize.
Votes can be placed until July 5.
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