The 2005-06 budget still has to go through a joint committee of the House and Senate and win the signature of Gov. Mark Sanford, who has the ability to veto individual line items in the $5.8 billion spending plan.
Of the $750,000 in the budget for Penn Center, the first school for freed slaves, $500,000 would be used for maintenance and construction around the facility, Executive Director Bernie Wright said.
"We have some moneys that we're working off of, but there is still more money needed," he said Wednesday. "There are some buildings that are in great need of repair."
Buildings like the Jasmine Center, Dairy Barn and Gantt Cottage all need repairs, Wright said, adding that many of the driveways leading up to the buildings also need work.
"It's a long-awaited need," he said. "When you come up on Penn campus, a historic district, you want to see a nice outlay of buildings that are well-kept and maintained."
The new Gullah Studies Institute, set to begin July 17 and run through July 30, will host a series of educational workshops and sessions focusing on Gullah culture.
The 400-year-old Gullah-Geechee tradition first landed on the Sea Islands when West African slaves were brought to the area to work on plantations. Today, the culture is a mixture of West African, American Indian and European backgrounds.
State Sen. Scott Richardson, R-Hilton Head Island, said he added the $750,000 for Penn Center to the state budget because the Gullah traditions are something South Carolinians can be proud of.
"I think Penn Center has been forgotten for too long. It really is a major part of South Carolina's history and something we need to showcase," he said. "I just think it's something we should be proud of."
Marquetta Goodwine, founder of the Gullah-Geechee Sea Island Coalition, has questioned why local Gullah leaders and scholars weren't asked to plan the institute and criticized the proposed state money for the program.
"I don't think the funding should go to institutes that are presenting things that are not from the perspective of Gullah-Geechee people," she said Wednesday. "I feel like if the Senate or anyone else wants to issue funding it needs to go to economic empowerment of the Gullah-Geechee people themselves."
On the federal level, legislation aimed at preserving the Gullah and Geechee cultures from North Carolina to Florida was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives last month and is awaiting approval from the Senate.
The Gullah-Geechee Cultural Heritage Act, proposed by U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., would hand out up to $1 million a year for 10 years for projects that enhance and protect the unique cultures.