Kentucky Steam Receives $20,000 ARP Grant Through Kentucky Humanities

July 27, 2021

IRVINE, Kentucky — Kentucky Steam Heritage Corporation has been named as a recipient of COVID-19 pandemic relief funding from the nonprofit organization Kentucky Humanities, an affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH).

Kentucky Steam is one of 51 cultural organizations throughout the state named as recipients of the funding through the $1.9 trillion federal American Rescue Plan Act approved this year by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Joseph R. Biden. Kentucky Steam is on track to receive $20,000 in funding after being selected by Kentucky Humanities to benefit from a portion of the $800,382 total available for entities in the Bluegrass State. Kentucky Humanities ARP Grants provide funding to museums, archives, historic sites, and other nonprofit cultural entities impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Businesses across the country, including not-for-profit agencies, continue to feel the devastating impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Bill Goodman, Kentucky Humanities Executive Director. “This money appropriated by Congress will help many cultural organizations throughout the Commonwealth get back on their feet and adapt to the societal changes COVID-19 has brought. Kentucky Humanities is glad to work with the National Endowment for the Humanities to get these much-needed funds in the hands of humanities-based organizations throughout Kentucky.”

Kentucky Steam President Chris Campbell says the funding through the Kentucky Humanities ARP Grants is a welcomed midsummer gift which will help propel the organization’s efforts in rural Estill County, Kentucky, especially in the wake of a year where fundraising was stymied by the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We at Kentucky Steam are grateful to Kentucky Humanities for believing in our mission to help promote and educate the rich railroad-based history and tradition in Estill County and all of Appalachian Kentucky,” Campbell said. “From our first conversation with the folks at Kentucky Humanities, we believed Kentucky Steam fit perfectly within their mission of telling Kentucky’s overall story, and we’re excited to be able to add another chapter to that story through our efforts. The support we’ve received from Kentucky Humanities and the efforts of our congressman Andy Barr, and senators Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul to see this nation and this state through these difficult times mean a great deal to our organization.”

Entities eligible to receive the Kentucky Humanities ARP Grants must meet specific guidelines, including being humanities-focused and offer humanities programs that are accessible to Kentuckians and open to the public. Campbell says the educational opportunities both available and in development at Kentucky Steam’s “The Yard” campus situated between the twin cities of Irvine and Ravenna helped the organization meet Kentucky Humanities’ criteria for consideration for the possible $2,000 to $20,000 in grant funding.

“The Yard” is a burgeoning tourism development in Estill County at the site of the former CSX rail yard dividing Ravenna and Irvine. “The Yard” will act as a fully immersive historical/educational experience where visitors will not only learn the varying aspects of the operation of historical railroad equipment including steam locomotives, but they will also be greeted by an events venue, a brewery and restaurant, and much more. The centerpiece at The Yard will be steam locomotive Chesapeake and Ohio No. 2716, which is currently being restored to operational condition by Kentucky Steam volunteers and staff.

“Great things are happening at Kentucky Steam and this generous $20,000 grant from Kentucky Humanities will push those efforts even further,” Campbell said.

For a full list of those receiving Kentucky Humanities American Rescue Plan Grants, visit https://www.kyhumanities.org/programs/minigrants/american-rescue-plan-grant

Further information about Kentucky Steam Heritage Corporation, including membership opportunities, may be found by visiting www.kentuckysteam.org.

Kentucky Steam To Host 2021 Ravenna Railroad Festival

Kentucky Steam welcomes long-running and returning event to its campus

6/25/21

RAVENNA, Kentucky — Vendor space is now available for the upcoming Ravenna Railroad Days Festival, which, for the first time ever, is being hosted by Kentucky Steam Heritage Corporation.

The 2021 Ravenna Railroad Festival will be held Saturday, Sept. 11 at Kentucky Steam Heritage Corporation’s campus on the former CSX Transportation rail yard property off Kirkland Avenue in Irvine. Kentucky Steam President Chris Campbell says the new cooperation between the organization and the experienced festival managers with the City of Ravenna is yet another step forward for both Kentucky Steam and the railroad festival.

“It’s always a pleasure to work in conjunction with the people in the twin communities of Ravenna and Irvine,” Campbell said. “The City of Ravenna had done such an amazing job in the past with organizing and holding the festival, and we’re looking forward to seeing it held on our campus for, hopefully, years to come.”

Vendor space for this year’s railroad festival is available for booking now. Those interested in space for both standard booths, as well as food beverage may visit www.railroadfestival.com for applications, vendor information, and guidelines. Booth size and pricing varies, with rates available for review on the applications.

This year’s event marks the return of the Ravenna Railroad Festival after the festival was canceled in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. The 2021 railroad festival will also act as a showcase of Kentucky Steam’s “The Yard,” a burgeoning tourism development in Estill County at the site of the former CSX rail yard dividing Ravenna and Irvine. “The Yard” will act as a fully-immersive historical/educational experience where visitors will not only learn the varying aspects of the operation of historical railroad equipment including steam locomotives, but they will also be greeted by an events venue, a brewery and restaurant, and much more.

Rendering of the future Yard development

Campbell says it is fitting that the Ravenna Railroad Festival, organized years ago to honor the droves of railroad employees from in and around Estill County, would eventually find a home at the very location of the former home terminal of so many of those railroaders.

“The fact that the railroad festival has landed on the Kentucky Steam campus, and that this campus is where numerous railroaders worked so hard to keep the lifeblood of this nation moving for more than a century is not lost on us,” Campbell said. “It’s very exciting that this year’s event will be the first-ever opportunity for festival-goers to literally walk in the footsteps of the railroaders who helped establish these wonderful communities of Ravenna and Irvine. We at Kentucky Steam couldn’t be more proud to partner with the City of Ravenna and to host this year’s festival.”

Sponsorship opportunities for the 2021 Ravenna Railroad Festival are also available. Information regarding sponsorship and vendor information may be obtained by emailing festival@kentuckysteam.org, by calling 1-833-597-8326 ext. 819, or visiting the festival website at www.railroadfestival.com

Further information about Kentucky Steam Heritage Corporation, including membership opportunities, may be found by visiting www.kentuckysteam.org.

June 12th Open House Registration Open

Kentucky Steam invites public to open house event

IRVINE, Kentucky — Kentucky Steam Heritage Corporation will open its doors to the public next weekend to showcase the progress being made on the group’s burgeoning tourism project in Estill County.

REGISTER HERE: https://www.showclix.com/event/kentucky-steam-open-house2

On June 12, the Irvine-based non-profit will host an open house event at its campus at the former CSX railroad yard in Ravenna, where the group is actively restoring a historic steam locomotive to operational condition. Visitors will be given walking tours at noon and 3 p.m. that Saturday of Kentucky Steam’s grounds and shop areas where the steam locomotive, former Chesapeake and Ohio Railway No. 2716, is being rebuilt and restored. Those taking the tour will even be given the opportunity to climb aboard the nearly-80-year-old locomotive, which was brought to Estill County in summer 2019.

The 2716 will eventually be the centerpiece of Kentucky Steam’s multi-purpose campus, named “The Yard,” which will also include an open-air concert venue, a restaurant and a brewery. Kentucky Steam Heritage Corporation President Chris Campbell says the open house is a good opportunity for the public to see the organization’s progress firsthand.

“We want people to come in and get reacquainted with this project,” Campbell said. “Open house events like this are new to us again after the difficult times we’ve experienced over the last year and a half, so that newness brings some excitement with it, and it’s exciting to know that the public will once again have the opportunity to see, up close, the results of the hard work being performed by our volunteers.”

Site work at “The Yard” is already underway and is set to accelerate this summer thanks to a sizable grant recently awarded to Kentucky Steam by the federal government. In early May, the U.S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) awarded a grant through its Brownfields Program worth $500,000 to Kentucky Steam for site cleanup of the former railroad yard in preparation of the construction of the “Hardy Pavilion at the Yard,” which will host outdoor concerts, farmers markets and other events. The grant is the second set of funds awarded to Kentucky Steam through EPA’s Brownfields Program.

On September 11th, Kentucky Steam will also be partnering with the Estill Development Alliance and the City of Ravenna to host the Ravenna Railroad Festival on its campus. The festival was canceled in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. More details about the festival will be released later this summer.

“The entire purpose of Kentucky Steam is to showcase the history of not only the railroads that criss-crossed Appalachian Kentucky, but also the people that kept those railroads moving,” Campbell says. “A lot of folks that we hope eventually pass through these shop doors or walk across the development could likely trace their lineage back to someone who helped move some of the millions of tons of coal that passed across this very soil for a century.”