The city of Kent received a $70,000 grant to help restore the sculptural landscape elements at Mill Creek Canyon Earthworks Park, 742 E. Titus St., on the eastern edge of downtown.

American Express and the National Trust for Historic Preservation announced June 15 that 25 historic and culturally significant sites in the Seattle-Puget Sound area to receive a total of $1 million in grants for historic preservation projects.

Nine historic sites were chosen for grants of $50,000 or more by an advisory committee of civic and preservation leaders from the Seattle-Puget Sound area, as well as representatives from American Express and the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

The committee based its selections on public voting results and community support for the project, the preservation needs of the site, historic significance, project completion ability, and the role the site plays in the community.

People voted online this spring to select their favorite historic places from a slate of 25 candidates as part of the Partners in Preservation initiative.

City crews will use the money to fund grading and drainage projects to restore the Earthworks’ design while allowing it to continue to protect downtown Kent from floodwaters.

The park, which opened in 1982, is internationally recognized as a masterpiece of modernist art and functions as a stormwater-detention dam, as well as a public space.

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