Hope for the Future
If you are interested in helping, please contact us.
Report & Slideshow from Public Meeting, Jan. 20, 2010
The PHMC (Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission), who owns Hope Lodge and numerous other state sites, has suffered severe budgetary cutbacks. We have been challenged to consider future alternatives. "Hope for the Future" is currently seeking to enhance the historic site by looking at additional uses that will provide long-term sustainability and make the site a better resource for the local community.
How You Can Help
The Friends have sufficient funds in the bank at the moment, so the most important thing we need now is volunteers for special events, for house tours, for class trips, for organizing. Please Contact Us if you can help! We're also interested in creative solutions to develop a realistic and sustainable plan for the future.
Hope for the Future
We hope you will attend the public meetings, and share your ideas. You can also offer comments and suggestions via the website. In addition, you can sign up to receive email messages regarding future developments at Hope Lodge. We welcome your ideas and your involvement.
Friends of Hope Lodge
The Friends of Hope Lodge is a volunteer organization (a non-profit corporation formed under the laws of Pennsylvania) that has supported Hope Lodge for many years. The Friends work at the site providing tour guides, managing the museum shop, tending the formal gardens, handling some maintenance work, and paying for other site improvement projects. The Friends also sponsor a number of special public events at Hope Lodge, including the 1777 Whitemarsh Encampment Re-enactment, Sheep-shearing Day, Hearth Cooking Workshops, a popular Ambler Symphony concert, and various historical presentations. Some special events have admission fees to help cover costs and to fund the Friends’ work at Hope Lodge; others are offered free of charge as a public service.
The Friends of Hope Lodge intend to reopen Hope Lodge on some basis. The details and timetable are uncertain at this time, but we are committed to establishing a sustainable operating plan for the site, and we are confident Hope Lodge can become a more engaging historic attraction and a more valuable community resource.
Mission of Hope for the Future Project
Explore and evaluate alternatives to the current use and management of Historic Hope Lodge and grounds.
Minimum Requirements for Evaluation
These are general guidelines for evaluating the desirability of an alternative.
- Hope Lodge will be open to the public on a regular basis
- Role for locally organized programming
- Preservation of historic buildings, environment and green space
- Mansion and Summer Kitchen interior preserved suitable for Colonial and Colonial Revival interpretation.
Ownership/Management Alternatives
- Not-for-profit
- State
- County
- Township (Whitemarsh)
- DCNR (part of Fort Washington State Park)
- Corporate
- Academic (University, College, etc.)
- For-profit company
- Other Private Ownership
- Public-private combination
Use Concepts
- Historic Farm and Community Supported Agricultural (CSA) Farm [List of Local CSA's]
- Historic laboratory / Education facility for Professionals
- Student use (Vocational, farming, landscaping, art)
- Recreational use (athletic fields, etc.)
- Continue use as is
Site Description
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