ArtsWatch

A refurbished underground museum at Franklin Court has made it onto a list of 201 National Park Service projects eligible for federal matching funds over the next 10 years, federal officials announced Thursday.
The $18 million re-do of the bicentennial-era museum — beneath Robert Venturi’s famous “ghost house” image of Ben Franklin’s long-demolished residence — has already attracted a $6 million grant from the Pew Charitable Trusts. The 200-plus projects announced form the core of what officials call the “Centennial Challenge” — a push to match $1 billion in federal dollars with $1 billion in private money to spruce up the nation’s parks by 2016, the 100th birthday of the park service.
If congress approves the Bush Administration proposal, $100 million in federal money will be available for matching annually over the next decade.
Several Pennsylvania projects made it onto the list, including the Franklin museum renovation, design and construction of the Flight 93 National Memorial near Somerset, and the rehab of Cemetery Ridge at Gettysburg National Military Park.

- Stephan Salisbury