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PROJECT NARPJTIVE A. Background Residents of Cabarrus County have formed two private groups that actively promote the preservation of historically and architecturally significant buildings - Historic Cabarrus, Incorporated and the Easter~ Cabarrus Historical Society. More recently, the City of Concord and Cabarrus County have also become involved in preservation efforts. The City; County and Historic Cabarrus, Incorporated pooled their resources to provide matching funds for a survey and planning grant-in-aid from ~eritage Conservation and Recreation Service Funds administered by the North Carolina Divisior of Archives and History. The grant and matching funds are being used to conduct a Comprehensive Community inventory of historically and architecturally significant buildings in Concord and Cabarrus County. Historic Cabarrus, Inc. (HCI), a county-wide organization, was formed to prevent the planned demolition of Cabarrus County's 1876 Courthouse during the early 1970's. Through the efforts of ~istoric Cabarrus, the preservation of the courthouse has been assured and the structure has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places. The preservation of the courthouse was paid for entirely with private contributions, HC! membership dues and fund-raising projects carried out by the group, tlistoric Cabarrus has made possible the use of the former court house for a variety of cultural activities. The old courtroom is used by a non-profit theater group, the Old Courthouse TheaLer, which recently completed its fourth season before capacity audiences. Historic Cabarrus uses three first floor rooms for its office, a library and a museum, and has made another space available for the gallery of the Cabarrus County Art Guild. Mistoric Cabarrus has also worked to promote preservation of other significant older buildings in Concord and Cabarrus County. The organization sponsored a book week to recognize achievements of Cabarrus County authors, particularly local historians. HCI has held a reception for ~lel Kester, an artist whose works include watercolors of the former court house and the eighteenth-century log ~ouse of Archibald I.icCurdy, and has assisted with a tour of Mill Hill, the Greek Revival home of Jacob Stirewalt, the area's outstanding architect. HC! assembled a slide program of historic buildings and has shown the slides to various civic groups. Most recently, the group provided 20 percent of the local matching funds used to secure the aforementioned HCRS survey grant. A second group of private citizens actively promoting historic preservation is the Ea§tern Cabarrus H~storical Society. This organization, which draws most of its members from the Town of ~t. Pleasant and its environs, was formed in 1972 with the primary objective of preserving the buildings that successively served as the campus of the North Carolina Male Academy (1855-1858), North Carolina College (1859-1901) and the Mount Pleasant Collegiate Institute (1903-1933). Efforts of the group have thus far focused on the three-story Main Building of the campus, erected in 185~-55, The Society has raised over $80,000 in private contributions to purchase, repair and restore the building, and recently received an appropriation of $10,000 from the North Carolina Legislature to do further resoration work. The Society is now raising