Printer Friendly Version - Shoreline Trolley Museum to Receive $405K State Grant

Updates to East Haven, Branford Campuses for More Accessibly Inclusive Environment

Non-profit Shoreline Trolley Museum will receive a $405,375 ‘Good to Great’ state grant to update both the East Haven and Branford museum campuses, to allow a more accessibly inclusive environment for guests, volunteers and staff. File photo courtesy Shoreline Trolley Museum

On June 21, Shoreline Trolley Museum was named among organizations benefiting from a pool of $7 million in state grant money distributed through Connecticut’s Good To Great program. The non-profit museum will receive $405,375 to update both the East Haven and Branford museum campuses to allow a more accessibly inclusive environment for guests, volunteers, and staff.

As the oldest continuously running suburban trolley line in the USA, the museum draws some 24,000 trolley lovers annually from across the globe and the shoreline area. Shore Line Trolley Museum continues to run its extraordinary collection of restored trolleys over a 1.5 mile segment of the Branford Electric Railway, along a private right-of-way from East Haven through the scenic woods and saltwater marsh of Beacon Hill Preserve in Branford’s Short Beach. The museum is located at 17 River Street in East Haven.

In a press release issued June 21, Governor Ned Lamont announced the State of Connecticut would be releasing more than $7 million in state grants to several nonprofit organizations for the purposes of making facility and infrastructure upgrades at 34 cultural and historic sites statewide.

The press release went on to note the funds are being released under the state’s Good to Great Grant Program, which is co-administered by the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) and CT Humanities. It was established in 2014 with a goal of helping nonprofit arts, cultural, or history organizations enhance visitors’ experiences in engaging, meaningful, and relevant ways.

“As one of the oldest states in the nation, Connecticut has many unique cultural and historic sites that not only share the history of our state but also provide avenues for that culture to continue into today,” Governor Lamont said. “I’m glad that we can release this state funding and get it into the hands of these nonprofit organizations, who will use these grants to maintain and enhance the valuable services they provide to residents and visitors to our state.”