Preservation: Hold The Fort
Categories: Preservation: You Can Help
By: Mark Boardman 11/01/2008
A modern renaissance continues at the Indian Wars-era Fort Reno in central Oklahoma—thanks to a dedicated group of volunteers.
The 55 members of Historic Fort Reno, a nonprofit formed in 2000, work closely with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Some 25 historic buildings need saving, and the bill, estimated at $15 million in the 1990s, is probably much higher now.
Bob Warren—who wears many hats as the secretary-treasurer of the nonprofit, director of the visitors center and a re-enactor—says the group received a nearly $600,000 grant from the U.S. Parks Service in 2004. Last year, it received $255,000 from the state centennial commission.
With that funding, three building exteriors have been restored and, in 2005, the USDA renovated a 19th-century home on officers’ row, converting it into the visitors center.
Next up on the to-do list: a 1944 chapel built by German POWs. After that, Warren says an 1878 one-room schoolhouse will be restored to its original form.
405-262-3987 • FortReno.org
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