BY ANDY TAYLOR
chronicle@taylornews.org

COFFEYVILLE — The Coffeyville Historical Society will be recipient of a $16,900 state grant to be used for continued restoration of the Brown Mansion.

The $16,900 state grant — combined with $25,350 of the society’s own money — will be used to re-glaze and refinish the wood windows at the Brown Mansion located on South Walnut Street. Now a popular tourist destination, the 1906-era mansion has been designated as an American Treasure by the National Park Service. The mansion is on the National Register of Historic Places.

“To the best of my knowledge, the windows of the Brown Mansion have never been addressed ever since the Coffeyville Historical Society assumed ownership of the property in the 1970s,” said Lue Barndollar of the Coffeyville Historical Society. “So, the windows are in dire need of maintenance. It will help not only in the appearance of the mansion but also, we hope, in the utility costs.”

The Kansas Department of Commerce’s Travel and Tourism Division awarded the grant to the society through the department’s Attraction Development Grant program. The program has been in existence for more than one decade, but this award was the first time the Coffeyville Historical Society had successfully applied and been awarded the grant.

“We have several other grant applications in the works, which, if they are awarded, will dramatically help the restoration of the mansion,” said Barndollar.

In the past year, the mansion has been undergoing a gradual facelift as more than 100 years of weathering and the elements have taken a toll on the structure.

Funding for the Attraction Development Grant Program is provided by the Economic Development Initiatives Fund, which is derived from state lottery proceeds.