It has just been announced that the California Cultural and Historical Endowment, or CCHE, has officially awarded the $850,870 matching grant the City of Sutter Creek had applied for, with a grant writing assist from the Knight Foundry Corporation. The Knights Foundry is nothing if not a piece of local history. The historic building used to be home to a group of skilled local craftsman. One of their most well-known projects are the decorative iron-leaves they created to line the outside of the state capitol. The primary objective of CCHE is to preserve the historic Knight Foundry Iron Works in Sutter Creek for posterity as a skills training center for traditional industrial metal-working crafts, and as a living history educational experience for the public. This capital grant is for the purchase, environmental cleanup and the rebuilding of the cupola iron furnaces.

The funds for this grant had been reserved last year, but it took significant, creative problem-solving to actually have the grant awarded. City Manager Rob Duke's work with CCHE staff cleared the way, and the City Council showed real flexibility in approving the necessary policy adjustments. Mayor Gary Wooten made a strong, succinct pitch for the Knights Foundry at a meeting last week between the City and CCHE. According to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for the Knights Foundry, “We can immediately begin spending match money against this grant, which will then be reimbursed by the CCHE dollar for dollar, once the formal grant agreement is approved. This is a very big step toward securing title to the Knights Foundry.”