1.This Act may be cited as
the Centennial District Authorization
Act of 2008
.
2.
(a)Congress finds that—
(1)the Centennial
District in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania was the site of an international
exhibition to celebrate the Centennial of the United States in 1876;
(2)held only 11
years after the end of the Civil War, the Centennial Exhibition was both a
national celebration of unity and a recognition by the world community that the
United States was emerging as the leading country in the world;
(3)the Centennial
Exhibition displayed 60,000 exhibits from more than 28 countries around the
world in 240 buildings and hosted nearly 10,000,000 visitors, which is
estimated to be nearly 25 percent of the population of the United States at the
time of the Exhibition;
(4)the Centennial
Exhibition became the center of cultural, technological, economic, and
geopolitical development in the United States by demonstrating groundbreaking
innovations, including root beer, the telephone, kindergarten, the typewriter,
the phonograph, and the monorail;
(5)there are more
than 100 United States companies that displayed at the Centennial Exhibition
that are still in business today, including Bausch and Lomb, John Deere,
Campbell’s, Heinz, and Wyeth;
(6)the Centennial
District is located in Fairmount Park, which is listed on the National Register
of Historic Places;
(7)Memorial Hall, a
centerpiece of the Centennial celebration is—
(A)listed on the
National Register of Historic Places; and
(B)being renovated
to join other cultural institutions as an anchor for the Centennial District;
and
(8)the Centennial
District would commemorate the historic significance of the Centennial
celebration in the history of the United States.
(b)The purposes of this Act are—
(1)to preserve and interpret for the
educational and inspirational benefit of the public the contribution to the
heritage of the United States of certain historic and cultural land in the
Centennial Historic District, with an emphasis on harnessing the unique urban
environment of the District for the educational and recreational values offered
by the District; and
(2)to enhance economic and cultural
redevelopment in the District by preserving the history of the United States
Centennial Celebration.
3.In this Act:
(1)The
term City means the City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
(2)The
term Commission means the Fairmount Park Commission.
(3)The
term District means the Centennial Historic District established
by section 4(a).
(4)The term management plan means the plan
prepared under section 5(b).
(5)The
term Secretary means—
(A)the Secretary of
the Interior; or
(B)the head of any
Federal agency to which funds are appropriated to carry out this Act.
4.Establishment of
centennial historic district
(a)There
is established in the City the Centennial Historic District.
(b)The
District shall be comprised of land in the City under the jurisdiction of the
Commission, the boundaries of which are depicted on map A
of the
maps entitled Fairmount Park’s Proposed Centennial Authorization
Boundary
and dated December 2007.
5.Administration
of centennial historic district
(a)The Secretary may make grants to, and enter into
cooperative agreements with, any State or local government agencies, any
nonprofit entities designated by the Secretary to operate the District, and any
leaseholders for—
(1)the preparation
of the management plan; and
(2)the
implementation of projects approved by the Secretary under the management
plan.
(b)
(1)The Secretary shall prepare a plan for the development of
historic, architectural, natural, cultural, recreational, and interpretive
resources within the District.
(2)The
management plan shall include—
(A)an evaluation
of—
(i)the
condition of historic and architectural resources in the District; and
(ii)the
environmental conditions in the District; and
(B)recommendations
for—
(i)rehabilitating,
reconstructing, and adaptively reusing the historic and architectural resources
evaluated under subparagraph (A)(i);
(ii)preserving
viewsheds, focal points, and streetscapes in the District;
(iii)establishing
gateways to the District;
(iv)establishing and
maintaining parks and public spaces in the District;
(v)developing public
parking areas in the District;
(vi)improving
pedestrian and vehicular circulation in the District; and
(vii)improving
security in the District.
(c)Restoration,
maintenance, and interpretation
(1)The Secretary may enter into cooperative agreements with
the City, any agents of the City, and designated partners within the District
under which the Secretary may mark, interpret, improve, restore, and provide
technical assistance with respect to the preservation and interpretation of any
property of historical or cultural significance in the District, as identified
in the management plan.
(2)A
cooperative agreement entered into under paragraph (1) shall contain provisions
requiring that—
(A)the Secretary
have the right of access at reasonable times to public portions of the property
for interpretive and other purposes; and
(B)no changes or
alterations be made to the property unless the changes or alterations are
approved by all parties to the cooperative agreement.
(d)
(1)The Secretary shall provide financial assistance to
projects for capital improvements in the District in accordance with this
subsection.
(2)To
be eligible for financial assistance under paragraph (1), an entity shall
submit to the Secretary an application that includes a description of the
manner in which the proposed project would further the purposes of the
District.
(3)In
making amounts available under this subsection, the Secretary shall—
(A)consider which
proposed projects provide the greatest leverage of Federal funds; and
(B)give priority
consideration to projects relating to—
(i)providing
gateways to, and signage for, the District;
(ii)improving
historical monuments in the District;
(iii)maintaining
public parks and spaces in the District;
(iv)establishing a
trail in the District;
(v)maintaining and
improving the lake in the District;
(vi)providing
streetscape and lighting for the Girard Gateway;
(vii)improving
pedestrian and vehicular traffic circulation and parking at the western end of
the Centennial Exhibition grounds; and
(viii)restoring
Memorial Hall.
(C)Any
amounts provided under this subsection shall be subject to an agreement between
the Secretary and the recipient of the financial assistance providing that if
the project assisted is converted or disposed of for purposes contrary to the
purposes of this Act, as determined by the Secretary, the United States shall
be entitled to compensation from the recipient of the financial assistance in
an amount that is equal to the greater of—
(i)the
amount of any funds made available to the project under this Act; or
(ii)the amount of
the increased value of the project attributable to the funds made available to
the project under this Act, as determined at the time of the conversion or
disposal.
6.Authorization of
appropriations
(a)There are authorized to be appropriated to the
Secretary—
(1)$39,500,000 for
capital projects under section 5(d); and
(2)$5,500,000 for
planning and technical assistance.
(b)Cost-sharing
requirementsAmounts made available for projects under subsection
(a)(1) shall not exceed 80 percent of the total cost of the project provided
financial assistance.
(c)The authority to expend amounts made available under
this Act shall expire 5 years after the date on which the amounts are
appropriated.