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National
Park Service Awards Historic Preservation Grants of
Nearly
$34 Million to States, the District of Columbia and Territories
|
Report: Historic
Preservation Fund provided nearly $53 million in 2013 to states, tribes
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Washington,
DC – March 2014 / Newsmaker Alert / National
Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis has awarded more than $33.8
million in grants from the Historic
Preservation Fund to help states and territories preserve and protect
our nation’s historic sites. The grants – provided under the Consolidated
Appropriations Act of 2014 – augmented more than $13 million previously
awarded to states under the Continuing Resolution that funded federal agencies
from October through mid-January. The total amount allocated to State Historic
Preservation Offices in FY14 is $49,925,000.
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 “From
community preservation planning to the bricks-and-mortar restoration of
threatened historic properties, grants from the Historic Preservation Fund
are helping communities preserve their social, cultural and ethnic heritage
that enriches all of America,” Jarvis said. “These grant programs help
states, territories, and local governments tell the stories of their people
and places while promoting heritage tourism, preserving state and local
historic sites, and providing a boost to local economies.”
The
Historic Preservation Fund is supported by revenue from federal oil leases
on the Outer Continental Shelf, providing assistance for a broad range
of preservation projects without expending tax dollars. These projects
range from surveys and inventories of historic properties to National Register
of Historic Places nominations, preservation education, and rehabilitation
and repair to buildings. The projects are paid for with 60 percent federal
and 40 percent state or local funding.
Examples
of recent projects funded by National Park Service Historic Preservation
Grants include:
When
their National Historic Landmark designated church, the Santurario de Chimayo,
was threatened by growth, the Latino community of Chimayo, New Mexico rallied,
teamed with partners, and used Historic Preservation Funds to conduct community
forums, document oral histories, and inventory cultural resources. The
result was a preservation plan for the community’s unique cultural lands,
adobe architecture, and acequia water ways, which will also be adopted
into Santa Fe County’s Master Plan.
Morgantown,
North Carolina, used Historic Preservation Fund grant funds on a feasibility
study for a historic silo barn located on the campus of the local community
college and within a National Register historic district. The study helped
match the college’s need for more space for its professional crafts program
with the vacant barn. Plans for the barn to house the local traditions
of pottery, metal, and woodworking are now being developed and have become
a priority of the college’s facility plan.
Also
this week, the National Park Service released the 2013 Historic Preservation
Fund annual report. Program highlights for the year include:
-
$52.7
million distributed to state and tribal historic preservation offices for
support of a wide variety of programs that include the survey and nomination
of historic properties to the National Register, historic preservation
planning, rehabilitation of historic properties, education, disaster relief,
and grant and technical assistance to local governments, States, and Tribes.
-
Approximately
16.3 million acres surveyed for cultural resources, with over 135,300 properties
evaluated for their historical significance and added to state inventories.
Approximately 196,000 acres surveyed by tribes, adding 1,300 properties
and 7,000 archeological sites to tribal inventories.
-
29 new
communities became Certified Local Governments, a national program that
creates local, state and federal partnerships to promote historic preservation
at the grassroots level. There are now 1,866 Certified Local Governments
throughout the nation.
-
Four states,
New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Rhode Island, received $38 million
in disaster recovery grants for historic properties damaged by Hurricane
Sandy. Grants totaling $9 million will be awarded to eight additional states
and four tribes in the disaster area in 2014.
Historic
Preservation Fund grants and programs leverage private and nonfederal investment,
while creating jobs that expand and accelerate historic preservation activities.
The National Park Service administers the fund and distributes matching
grants to state and tribal historic preservation officers. It is one of
more than a dozen programs that provide states and local communities with
technical assistance, recognition, and funding to help preserve their own
history and create close-to-home recreation opportunities.
For
more information on the Historic Preservation Fund: www.nps.gov/history/hpg.
About
the National Park Service
More
than 20,000 National Park Service employees care for America’s 401 national
parks and work with communities across the nation to help preserve local
history and create close-to-home recreational opportunities. Visit us at
www.nps.gov,
on Facebook www.facebook.com/nationalparkservice,
Twitter www.twitter.com/natlparkservice,
and YouTube www.youtube.com/nationalparkservice.
Contacts:
National
Park Service
Hampton
Tucker / 202-354-2067
Mike
Litterst / 202-208-6843 |
