BANGOR – When the Maine Acadian Heritage Council set out to do audio recordings in the St. John Valley, the group applied for a New Century grant.

It covered only $1,500 of the estimated $66,000 budget for the project, but its impact extended far beyond dollars.

“If I had a small project, that could tip the balance,” said project director Sheila Jans. “With a large project, it’s significant that the state’s cultural agencies are supporting what we’re doing, period. It’s really important to have that.”

The New Century Community Program started in 1999 as an experiment to provide seed money for arts, preservation, heritage and library projects in the state. An initial budget of $3.2 million funded 742 projects in 183 cities and towns throughout Maine. In the years that followed, funding continued in diminishing amounts.

A bill before the Legislature proposes $4.5 million annually to continue the program, which has received national recognition from the Pew Charitable Trust and Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.

“We cannot as a state drop everything and only focus on the state budget [woes],” said Rep. Joseph Bruno, R-Raymond, the bill’s sponsor. “If you leave important cultural things out … everything that’s important to bring the state forward falls by the wayside.”

The appropriations committee has tabled the bill until the end of the session, and there has been talk of funding New Century with a bond issue. Bruno opposes the bond because it only could be used for capital improvements rather than grants for artwork or educational seminars.

“It’s still up in the air,” Bruno said.

Despite continuing budget concerns, the proposal has attracted bipartisan support, as the initial New Century plan did in 1999, Bruno said. This is due, in part, to the collaborative nature of the grants. The Maine Cultural Affairs Council – which encompasses the state library, state museum, arts commission, historic preservation commission, state archives, state historical society and the Maine Humanities Council – administers the funds.

“There’s a little less to go around, but by cooperating, we’ve been able to get the absolute maximum value out of the parts we do have,” said Joseph R. Phillips, director of the Maine State Museum.

New Century funds have supported large projects, such as the online Maine Memory Network, and small projects, such as seminars at local historical societies. And the grants average $3 in matching funds for each dollar invested.

“We’re told that it’s a model for other states,” Phillips said.

Kristen Andresen can be reached at 990-8287 or kandresen@bangordailynews.net.