San Antonio Missions National Historical Park Superintendent Mardi Arce has announced a $300,000 project in partnership with Mission Heritage Partners to restore and preserve historic masonry in the park located in Texas. Half of the project will be funded by the National Park Service, with a match from Mission Heritage Partners. The funding will be used to hire a temporary mason crew to preserve portions of the more than 270,000 square feet of historic masonry the Park Service preserves.

"These partnerships and the federal and private dollars dedicated to a range of projects are a legacy of the National Park Service Centennial," said Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke. "The Centennial Challenge projects continue our focus on investments to improve park facilities, enhance park accessibility and help visitors discover the rice natural and cultural history as well as the incredible physical landscapes of the more than 400 parks of the National Park System."

"We are excited to partner with our friends group, Mission Heritage Partners, on this important project," said Superintendent Arce. "While the Archdiocese of San Antonio continues their legacy of preserving each of the mission churches, the National Park Service maintains the remaining four miles of masonry walls and other important structures at the four mission sites. All of our funds for this Centennial Challenge project, whether public or private, will be utilized for preservation masonry. However, we cannot access the public funding until a match is secured."

"As the official nonprofit partner to San Antonio Missions National Historical Park, Mission Heritage Partners is proud to work with the National Park Service to make the most of this matching opportunity provided by the Centennial Challenge program," said Executive Director Rosebud Coffey. "Through generosity of donors, Mission Heritage Partners has funded over $4 million worth of projects for the Park." 

The masonry preservation project at San Antonio Missions National Historical Park is one of the 109 projects funded at national parks in 30 states, the District of Columbia, and Guam. Since 2015, the National Park Service Centennial Challenge program has leveraged more that $68 million in funding from Congress to attract more than $102 million from partner organizations to suppport hundreds of projects across the country. This year Congress provided $23 million for the projects that will be matched by $25 million from more than 90 park partners. This combination leverages $48 million and many of the projects tackle National Park System maintenance backlog.