An annual Grant Program
The Donald Stephen Gratz Preservation Services Fund was established in 2010 and is funded through a permanently endowed charitable contribution from Thomas J. Schwarz. The primary goals of the Gratz Fund are to fund professional services for important preservation projects that: illustrate the benefits of the New York State Historic Tax Credit Program; leverage other public and private investments; and enable the League to react quickly to preservation opportunities with financial resources. The League will give priority to projects in the Utica, NY area whenever possible.
Gratz Fund Grant recipients
For inquiries, please contact:
As a metal fabricator in Long Island City, Donald Stephen Gratz worked with modern architects, industrial designers, sculptors, and furniture designers from Mies Van der Rohe to I.M.Pei to Barnett Newman and Bill Katavalos. But he always had a soft spot for historic preservation and enthusiastically supported the work of his wife, Roberta Brandes Gratz, a longtime Preservation League Trustee. He loved attending League events.
Thomas J. Schwarz, who endowed the fund, is a member of the Preservation League's Trustees Council. He serves as President of Purchase College, SUNY, and is a board member and alumnus of Hamilton College with great affection for upstate New York.