Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 62 Part 1.djvu/1091

 62 STAT.] 80TH CONG., 2D SESS.-CH. 687-JUNE 28, 1948 [CHAPTER 687] 1061 AN ACT To provide for the establishment of the Independence National Historical Park, HJue28.s15 and for other purposes. [Public Law 795] Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the UnitedStates of Americain Congress assebled,That, for the purpose Independenee Na- of preserving for the benefit of the American people as a national his- Pa l torical park certain historical structures and properties of outstanding national significance located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and asso- ciated with the American Revolution and the founding and growth of the United States, the Secretary of the Interior, following the con- summation of agreements with the city of Philadelphia and the Car- penters' Company of Philadelphia as prescribed in section 2 of this Ilnfa. Act, is authorized to acquire by donation or with donated funds, or Acquisition of prop- to acquire by purchase, any property, real or personal, within the following-described areas, such park to be fully established as the "Independence National Historical Park" when, in the opinion of the Secretary, title to sufficient of the lands and interests in lands within such areas, shall be vested in the United States: Provided, That the Restiction- park shall not be established until title to the First United States Bank property, the Merchants' Exchange property, the Bishop White house, the Dilworth-Todd-Moylan house, and the site of the Benjamin Franklin house, together with two-thirds of the remaining lands and interests in lands within the following-described areas, shal have been vested in the United States: (a) An area of three city blocks bounded generally by Walnut "Poect A" Street, Fifth Street, Chestnut Street, and Second Street, but excluding the new United States customhouse at the southeast corner of Second and Chestnut Streets, identified as "project A", as described in the report of the Philadelphia National Shrines Park Commission, dated December 29, 1947. (b) A memorial thoroughfare, or mall, extending generally from "PrectB. " the south side of Walnut Street to the north side of Manning Street, identified as part of "project B" in the report of the Commission. (c) The site of the residence of Benjamin Franklin, and related "Project o." grounds, comprising approximately a one-hundred-foot-wide strip, extending southward from Market Street approximately three hun- dred feet between Third and Fourth Streets, and encompassing apor- tion of Orianna Street, identified as "project C" in the report of the Commission. (d) Certain land and buildings immediately adjacent to Christ "Proect. Church, situated on the west side of Second Street, and north of Mar- ket Street, identified as "project E" in the report of the Commission: Provided, That the Secretary of the Interior first enter into an agree- Agreeme nt wot ment with the proprietor or proprietors of said property (Christ chuch. Church), said agreement to contain the usual and customary provisions for the protection of the property, assuring its physical maintenance as a national shrine, without any limitation or control over its use for customary church purposes. SEc. 2 . In furtherance of the general purposes of this Act as pre- mete - scribed in section 1 hereof, the Secretary of the Interior is authorized to enter into cooperative agreements with the city of Philadelphia to assist in the preservation and interpretation of the property known as the Independence Hall National Historic Site and with the Car- penters' Company of Philadelphia to assist in the preservation and interpretation of Carpenters' Hall, in connection with the Indepen- dence National Historical Park. Such agreements shall contain, but shall not be limited to, provisions that the Secretary of the Interior,

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