SCHUMER, CLINTON SECURE $700,000 FOR THE ERIE CANALWAY NATIONAL HERITAGE CORRIDOR

Funding included in the FY05 Omnibus Appropriations bill

US Senators Charles E. Schumer and Hillary Rodham Clinton announced today that Congress will pass the Fiscal Year 2005 Omnibus Appropriations Bill, which included $700,000 for the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor. The funds were included in the Interior Appropriations section of the bill. It is expected that the bill will be sent to the President in the coming weeks for his signature.

“Everybody learns in grade school about the importance of the Erie Canal," Senator Schumer said. "It is the jewel in the crown of New York State history and cultural tourism. We are finally going to give them the opportunity to come and experience it firsthand.”

“The Erie Canal is a true historic treasure for Western New York but it is also an important resource for the future. This very canal made Upstate New York – from Albany to Buffalo - a hub of the industrial economy in the 19th and 20th centuries,” Senator Clinton said. “With these kinds of investments, I believe the Canal can also serve as a resource for economic development and tourism the 21st century and beyond”.

The funding would help the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor complete the legislatively required management plan and implement recommendations for historic preservation and economic revitalization projects in the numerous communities within the heritage corridor.

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