LITTLE ROCK—Governor Asa Hutchinson announced today that the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program, an agency of the Department of Arkansas Heritage, has awarded $2,402,561 in grants for projects in 44 Arkansas counties – including Howard County – through its County Courthouse Restoration Subgrant, Historic Preservation Restoration Grant, Certified Local Government Subgrant, Main Street Slipcover Grant and Main Street Downtown Revitalization Grant programs.
Howard County received a $170,000 County Courthouse Restoration Grant for a new heating and air system for the 1939 courthouse in Nashville. The Howard County Historical Society received a $20,000 Historic Preservation Restoration Grant for restoration work at the 1912 former First Presbyterian Church in Nashville.
Thirteen counties shared $1,262,340 in County Courthouse Restoration Subgrants, which are financed through Real Estate Transfer Tax funds distributed by the Arkansas Natural and Cultural Resources Council for rehabilitation of historic county courthouses across Arkansas. Funding requests totaled $6,172,537.
Other counties receiving courthouse grants were Arkansas, $13,000; Bradley, $249,850; Drew, $91,000; Hempstead, $16,465; Hempstead, $26,465; Johnson, $59,200; Lafayette, $69,756; Lawrence, $130,000; Logan, $68,000; Mississippi, $250,000, Ouachita, $100,000, Polk, $21,457 and Prairie, $23,512.
Twenty-five projects shared $756,763 in Historic Preservation Restoration Grants (HPRG), which distribute funds raised through the Real Estate Transfer Tax to rehabilitate buildings listed on the Arkansas or National Registers of Historic Places and owned by local governments or not-for-profit organizations. Grant requests totaled $1,498,725.
Other HPRG recipients, the amount of their grants, and the properties to be restored, were Bradley County Historical Museum, $25,000 to restore chimneys, wood siding and interior finishes at the John Martin House; Carnegie Public Library in Eureka Springs, $33,229 to restore steps; Carroll County, $30,267 to restore the bell tower and chimney and paint the former Shady Grove Delmar Church and School; City of Altus, $25,070 to restore the roof at the German American Bank; City of Arkadelphia, $13,250 for paint and restoration at the Missouri Pacific Depot; City of Siloam Springs, $56,666 to restore the roof at the former Siloam Springs Post Office; City of Sulphur Springs, $30,000 to restore the roof at the former Sulphur Springs School; Clover Bend Historic Preservation Association, $61,750 for exterior restoration at the Clover Bend Gym; Cross County Historical Society, $11,904 for restoration work at the South Elementary School; Danny Dozier, $5,034 for restoration work at 187 East Main Street in Batesville; First Lutheran Church in Little Rock, $15,480 for stained-glass window restoration; Fort Chaffee Redevelopment Authority in Fort Smith, $37,266 for restoration of Barrack #823; Fort Smith Heritage Foundation, $24,737 for wood restoration at the W.H.H. Clayton House; Fort Smith Museum of History, $15,415 for masonry restoration at the Atkinson Williams Warehouse; Hamburg United Methodist Church, $75,000 to install a structural roof beam; Helena Museum of Phillips County, $40,000 for roof and exterior restoration; City of Hope, $40,000 to stabilize and restore the Girl Scout Little House; Lutheran Camp on Petit Jean, $20,438 for restoration work at Trinity Lutheran Church; Darrell and Missy Orvis, $10,000 to restore the roof of the William Heibach House in Little Rock; Ouachita County Historical Society, $26,160 to restore the roof at the McCollum-Chidester House in Camden; St. James Episcopal Church in Eureka Springs, $19,230 to restore the roof, bell tower and columns at the former Comer School; Texarkana Museum System, $20,329 for restoration work at the Patrick Ahern House; Town of Portia, $19,078 to restore the porch, doors and windows at the Portia School; Trumann Community Foundation, $39,460 for roof and window repair at the Trumann Community House, and Visitor’s Chapel A.M.E. Church in Hot Springs, $42,000 for plaster, window and door repair.
Sixteen recipients shared $116,020 in grants through the AHPP’s Certified Local Government program, which is open to Arkansas cities and counties that contain a historic district commission and a historic district protected by a local ordinance, as well as to cities and counties that are seeking to join the CLG program. These grants provide training opportunities to local historic district commissions and can fund other local preservation projects. At least 10 percent of the AHPP’s annual appropriation from the federal Historic Preservation Fund goes to CLG cities as grants for local projects. Grant requests totaled $210,487.
CLG grant recipients were Batesville, which received $40,000 to restore the marquee and roof at the Melba Theater for training and design guidelines; Benton, which received $6,325 to update its cultural resource inventory, prepare a brochure, training and staff assistance; Conway, which received $1,500 for training and for a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA); El Dorado, which received $9,200 for National Register nominations and administrative support; Fayetteville, which received $13,150 for training, a plaque and fencing at Oaks Cemetery and a historic structures database; Fort Smith, which received $1,500 for training; Hot Springs, which received $1,000 for a celebration of the NHPA; Little Rock, which received $2,600 for training and sign toppers for the Capitol View/Stifft Station neighborhood; Morrilton, which received $9,500 for training, administration and signage and outreach and education; North Little Rock, which received $17,500 for administration and a window workshop; Osceola, which received $800 for training; Pine Bluff, which received $1,508 for training and preservation awards; Texarkana, which received $7,000 for training, a website and outreach, and Van Buren, which received $4,437 for training, tour development and a brochure.
There currently are 19 Arkansas cities in the CLG program: Little Rock, North Little Rock, Fort Smith, Van Buren, Hot Springs, Eureka Springs, Helena-West Helena, Conway, Pine Bluff, Morrilton, Texarkana, Rogers, Russellville, El Dorado, Fayetteville, Batesville, Benton, Osceola and Blytheville. Several others are working to become part of the CLG program.
Main Street Siloam Springs received a $6,439 “Slipcover” Removal Grant to restore the storefront at 207 South Broadway. These grants, funded through the Real Estate Transfer Tax, help finance removal of false façades from historic Main Street Arkansas buildings.
Sixteen Main Street Arkansas programs shared $240,000 in Downtown Revitalization Grants, which are funded through the state Real Estate Transfer Tax and are available to certified Main Street programs for building rehabilitations, parks, streetscape improvements and other design-related projects that will have major long-term impacts in the local Main Street area.
Main Street programs in Batesville, Blytheville, Dumas, El Dorado, Eureka Springs, Helena-West Helena, Jonesboro, Osceola, Ozark, Paragould, Rogers, Russellville, Searcy, Siloam Springs, Texarkana and West Memphis each received $15,000 grants through the program. Main Street Russellville received an additional $9,999 grant through the program for window restoration at 309 West B Street.
An additional $11,000 in Downtown Revialization Grants was awarded to cities involved in Main Street’s Arkansas Downtown Network. Grants of $1,000 each were awarded to the programs in Arkadelphia, Clarksville, Forrest City, Heber Springs, Malvern, Monticello, Morrilton, Pine Bluff, Rector, Warren and Wynne.
For more information on the AHPP’s grant programs, write the agency at 323 Center St., Suite 1500, Little Rock, AR 72201, call the agency at (501) 324-9880 [TDD 501-324-9811], send e-mail to info@arkansaspreservation.org or visit www.arkansaspreservation.org.
The Arkansas Historic Preservation Program is the agency of the Department of Arkansas Heritage responsible for identifying, evaluating, registering and preserving the state’s cultural resources. Other agencies are the Arkansas Arts Council, the Delta Cultural Center in Helena, the Old State House Museum, the Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission, the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center and the Historic Arkansas Museum.
