Latest news with #NationalTrustforHistoricPreservation
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
2 businesses receive money from Route 66 grant program
Locations along Route 66, including two in the Four-State Area, received grants recently designed to help preserve items along 'the Mother Road.' Grizzly Contracting and Supply in Galena, Kansas, and the Frozen Elephant in Miami, Oklahoma, are among the 25 grant recipients from the Route 66 Legacy Business Grant Program, sponsored by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Both received $10,000 for restoration projects. The grants, totaling $227,323, are part of the Preserve Route 66 Initiative. In 2018, the National Trust for Historic Preservation named Route 66 one of its 11 Most Endangered Historic Places. The Legacy Business Grant program began in 2024, and another grant cycle is expected to take place later this year. 'The legacy business grants are for longtime businesses on the Route 66 corridor, or for new businesses in historic buildings,' said Rhys Martin, manager of the Preserve Route 66 program. While many of the projects are for 'brick-and-mortar' restoration, Martin said other funds are for signage as businesses prepare for next year's centennial celebration of Route 66. Front Street Garage Jacob Bridges, owner of Grizzly Contracting and Supply, plans to use the funds for facade restoration of the former Front Street Garage, located across from the Cars on the Route. In October, he began to rent it as a potential warehouse space for his expanding business, but then he began to learn of its history along Route 66. This knowledge and a desire to preserve a bit of Route 66 history led Bridges to purchase the building, enabling him to pursue restoration grants. The building, which has sat empty since at least 2008, began life in 1896 as a lumberyard, supplying lumber to mine workers during Galena's mining boom. After the lumberyard closed, Galena Mayor A.C. Bradshaw purchased the building in the 1930s and opened Front Street Garage until at least 1954. Not much is known about the years leading up to Mike Hughes' purchase of it in the early 1980s. Hughes operated Mike's Satellite Shop until his retirement in 2008. While Bridges' business does work throughout the Four-State Area, he lives in Galena. The building's location on Main Street, near the dump, was what attracted him to it initially. Then Renee Charles, owner of Cars on the Route, gave him a crash course in Route 66 history. Bridges said he plans to use the grant funds to restore the front of the building to look like historic photos of the Front Street Garage. He also plans to put in an office and conference room, making the building the new hub of his business. 'I'm just a hardworking, blue-collar guy. This building screams history. I want to renovate it and keep the mural in good shape. It will be nice to fix it up so it looks like it used to, when Galena was booming,' Bridges said. He hopes this project and others will help towns like Galena as tourists flock to Route 66. 'He's taking a building that was languishing for many years and making a place where people can stop and experience history,' Martin said. Charles said she's excited to see Bridges' plan for the building. She's encouraging him to get it listed on the State Historic Registry, which would then allow him to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places. She said those steps will open additional grant funds, making it easier to maintain the building as a historic site and keep history alive. 'It's exciting to see it restored and made useful in another way,' Charles said. 'If there's no buildings, there's no Main Street, and if there's no Main Street, there's no town. It's important to maintain and bring Main Street back to life.' Frozen Elephant Eli Chenowith, owner of The Frozen Elephant, plans to use the funds for additional concrete and facade repair at the historic Marathon filling station, located on South Main next to The Frozen Elephant shaved ice stand. This is the second legacy grant Chenowith has received for this project, which is designed to turn the former gas station into a bed-and-breakfast. 'Small, local businesses are the lifeblood of Route 66,' Martin said. 'It's known as the Main Street of America for a good reason.' Preparing for centennial Martin and others expect business along Route 66 to explode within the next 18 months as tourists come to celebrate the highway's milestone birthday. However, he anticipates the draw for the highway will continue into 2027, 2028 and beyond. 'All along the corridor, people are preparing for (the centennial),' Martin said. Charles said tourism traffic has already increased at Cars on the Route. She credits Pixar's 'Cars' movie franchise for help keeping visitors' eyes on the 13.2 miles of Route 66 in Kansas. 'Anything that we do to bring tourism is economic development for our area,' Charles said. 'This includes Joplin, Carthage, Miami and Afton.' Elsewhere Other locations in Missouri and Oklahoma receiving grants to preserve Route 66: • $3,458 to Ted Drewes Frozen Custard in St. Louis for sign restoration and banner installation. • $10,000 to the Shamrock Court motel in Sullivan for final renovations to reopen to the traveling public. • $10,000 to the Downtown Service Station in Waynesville for lighting replacement. • $5,350 to Spencer Station in Spencer for tuckpointing and structural wall repair. • $10,000 to the Western Motel in Vinita, Oklahoma, for paint and centennial mural installation. • $10,000 to the Blue Dome filling station in Tulsa, Oklahoma, for facade restoration. • $10,000 to Zero Tolerance Coffee and Cacao in Oklahoma City for a storytelling project tied to Cherokee heritage and Native veterans. • $10,000 to Hair Expressions Studios in Yukon, Oklahoma, for building restoration.
Time Out
21-05-2025
- Time Out
These are the most endangered historic places in all of New York State
If you've ever road-tripped through the Catskills or strolled near Niagara Falls, you might have passed two of New York's most endangered cultural gems, without realizing they're on the brink of vanishing. The National Trust for Historic Preservation just dropped its 2025 list of America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places, and two New York State icons made the cut: The Wellington Hotel in Pine Hil l and The Turtle: Native American Center for the Living Arts in Niagara Falls. Let's start in the Catskills. Built in 1882, the Wellington is a hulking, wood-frame reminder of the golden age of mountain tourism—when resorts were grand, porches were wide and urbanites fled the heat for fresh air and blueberry pie. But today, it's sagging under the weight of time, with a failing foundation and a repair bill estimated at $7 million. The hamlet of Pine Hill, population 339, can't foot the bill alone. A grassroots group of 20 locals has stepped in with big plans to revive the space as a community hub with a café, grocery store and workforce housing, but they'll need serious funding to pull it off. Meanwhile, just steps from the roar of Niagara Falls, The Turtle—a striking, turtle-shaped cultural center built in 1981 by Arapaho architect Dennis Sun Rhodes—sits eerily silent. Once the largest Indigenous arts venue in the Eastern U.S., it's been closed since 1996 and is now unprotected, painted over and eyed for demolition. A coalition of more than 1,000 advocates, Indigenous and non-Indigenous alike, is fighting to bring it back to life as a celebration of Haudenosaunee heritage. Both projects underscore this year's theme: preservation isn't just about saving old buildings, but rather it's about making space for community, identity and economic resilience. In other words, it's not about nostalgia. It's about what happens next.
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Maine preservation commission cancels grants, layoffs loom without without federal funding
May 16—Facing delays in receiving federal funds, the Maine State Preservation Commission has canceled more than half a dozen grants in an attempt to avoid laying off nearly half its staff. The terminations included about $145,000 worth of grants to nonprofits and municipalities, which were canceled last week, said Director Kirk Mohney. Instead, the commission will use that money to keep paying four employees whose salaries rely on federal funds that were allocated months ago but have not been distributed. Those employees are largely in charge of overseeing federal grants, conducting impact reviews and reviewing proposed construction projects that qualify for preservation tax credits. Developers and preservation advocates say that a potential loss of funding and personnel would be devastating to historic rehabilitation projects that rely on the commission to secure major tax credits. Without those credits, many projects would be unfeasible, some said. "We were in a situation where we were running out of money to pay for staff, basically," Mohney said. "We're operating off last year's grant." By cutting grants to Maine nonprofits that work in historic preservation, the commission has delayed possible layoffs, Mohney said. But he was not sure how much time they had bought, though he hopes it will be enough to make it through the summer. "Into September or how far into September is really a big unknown," he said. The commission, part of a national network of state preservation offices, works to chronicle and maintain Maine's inventory of historic sites. Its responsibilities include educating Mainers on their state's storied sites, nominating properties to the National Register of Historic Places, and helping property owners and developers secure state and federal tax credits for rehabilitating buildings, among other duties. MONTHS OF DELAY In recent years, the state office has received about $870,000 annually from the federal government, which is distributed by the National Park Service, Mohney said. In developing its fiscal year 2025 budget, he said, the office anticipated a similar amount, since the formulas that determine each state's allocation had not changed. But Mohney said the park service has not yet begun transferring money allocated for the fiscal year that began in October. So far, no state offices have received their anticipated funding, according to the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Layoffs have already begun in some places, including Ohio, where about a third of local staff were cut last week, the Ohio Capital Journal reported. "I'm going into my 10th year (as director), and I was assistant director before that," Mohney said. "I don't remember it going this long where no part of the grant was available." The National Park Service, which itself has been subject to widespread staffing cuts, did not return a request for comment or questions about when federal funding will be available. Previously, the commission has been able to request and secure a portion of its funding in the face of delays, but there has been no way to do so this year. Tara Kelly, executive director of the independent, statewide nonprofit Maine Preservation, said she received a letter on May 9 notifying her that a roughly $16,500 grant from the state commission would be terminated. That money would have covered more than half the cost to develop an online tool for historic property stewards to plan rehabilitation funding and determine the best use of their site. "This is an important project; there is absolutely a need in the state for this kind of tool," Kelly said. "But as the statewide advocate for historic preservation, we immediately became concerned about the bigger picture, that the reasoning behind the loss of the grant is because of a lack of funding reaching the commission." She argued that Maine's historic landscape — and the state's deep-seated commitment to maintaining aging structures — is a major part of what makes the state such an attractive destination. "Why people come here, and visit, and spend their money and enjoy life is because of this very well preserved sense of place and history," Kelly said. Mohney said the at-risk positions in the state commission include staffers responsible for administering federal programs: They review thousands of permit applications that could impact historic sites, oversee grants to nonprofits and municipalities and evaluate applications for state and federal tax credits. Those tax incentives can total 45% or more of a rehabilitation project's cost and are a crucial part of many budgets, Mohney said. CRUCIAL CREDITS Developers say the incentives are essential — as is the commission's role in helping secure them. Dash Davidson, principal of High Tide Capital, said historic rehabilitations carry unique challenges and complex costs that simply do not exist in new construction, such as preserving historic masonry or removing historic features without destroying them. Often, there is a gap between the available funding and the project's budget needs, which the tax credits alleviate. "If you take away the tax credit program, not only are these projects not feasible, they're not even close," Davidson said. "Everyone's talking about ... the housing crisis and looking to diversify the economy in Maine. ... A real unsung hero in that whole campaign has been the tax credit program." Davidson said the review process can take months, and it would likely take longer if staffing cuts undermine the commission's ability to process applications as they come in. Kevin Bunker, founding principal of development company Developers Collaborative, put it bluntly: "Time kills deals." As interest rates and construction costs continue to rise, slowing down new construction nationwide, historic rehabilitations grow increasingly attractive, Bunker said. His company has completed nearly 20 historic rehabilitation projects since its founding about two decades ago. "Being able to access historic tax credits in a development climate like this — those are some of the only deals that are consistently working," Bunker said. "It (could) cause all kinds of problems with a project if it's sitting on the desk at the state waiting for the one reviewer to work his way down to it." Copy the Story Link
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
National Trust for Historic Preservation and American Express Launch Applications for Fifth Year of "Backing Historic Small Restaurants" Grant Program
WASHINGTON, May 16, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Applications are now open to small restaurant owners who qualify for Backing Historic Small Restaurants (BHSR), a grant program from the National Trust for Historic Preservation, supported by American Express, which helps small and independent restaurants preserve their histories while celebrating their cuisines and supporting their local economies. Now in its fifth year, the Backing Historic Small Restaurants program will provide $2.5 million in grants to 50 U.S. historic restaurants. The program has already provided over $5 million over the past four years to 130 restaurant owners in all 50 states, who have been impacted by economic hardship or disasters. This initiative is part of America Express' larger "Backing Small" grants program which includes its Backing International Small Restaurants program, also launching today. Together, the "Backing Small" restaurant grant programs will provide $3.95 million in funding and other resources in 2025 to restaurants around the world. "American Express is proud to back local champions who strengthen their communities, and that includes many small and independent restaurants," said Madge Thomas, Head of Corporate Sustainability and President, American Express Foundation. "Food brings people together and builds community. We aim to offer restaurants the support they need to expand, innovate, update their spaces, and improve operations, so they continue to grow and bring vitality to neighborhoods across the U.S and around the world." "American Express is an invaluable partner to the National Trust as together we work to strengthen neighborhoods across the country by supporting these small businesses that bring people together," said Carol Quillen, President and CEO of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Grantees from past years say the funding helped them make much needed infrastructure changes. Stephen Reeve, a 2024 Backing Historic Small Restaurants winner, runs New York Café in Ketchikan, Alaska — the state's longest operating restaurant, which adventurer Tony Ohashi built more than 120 years ago. The grant helped Stephen restore key elements of the building façade and better document the café's history with historic signage. "We want to honor the families that created the New York Café and much more of the surrounding historic Stedman-Thomas neighborhood," Reeve said. Applications are open today and close on May 30. Restaurant owners can apply for the grant program here. Community members can also nominate their favorite restaurant here. ABOUT AMERICAN EXPRESS "BACKING SMALL" INITIATIVES American Express launched Backing Historic Small Restaurants, and its sister program Backing International Small Restaurants, when many restaurants were forced to close their doors during the pandemic, and expanded the grant support over the years to help small restaurant owners address their evolving needs. As the founder of Small Business Saturday in 2010, American Express has brought communities together by connecting small business owners with local customers when these businesses needed the foot traffic. Since 2020, their grants have supported nearly 5,000 small businesses across six countries and 50 U.S. states, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico. Learn more about American Express' community impact here. ABOUT THE NATIONAL TRUST FOR HISTORIC PRESERVATION The National Trust for Historic Preservation is a privately-funded nonprofit organization dedicated to helping communities maintain and enhance the power of historic places. Chartered by Congress in 1949 and supported by partners, friends, and champions nationwide, we help preserve the places and stories that make communities unique. Through the stewardship and revitalization of historic sites, we help communities foster economic growth, create healthier environments, and build a stronger, shared sense of civic duty and belonging. Press contact: PR@ View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE National Trust for Historic Preservation Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Terminal Island's last Japanese American buildings are under threat
[Source] The last two surviving buildings from a once-thriving Japanese American fishing village in Terminal Island, Los Angeles, have been included in the National Trust for Historic Preservation's list of America's 11 most endangered historic places in 2025. About Terminal Island and the buildings Built in 1918 and 1923, respectively, dry goods store Nanka Shoten and grocery A. Nakamura Co. stand as the only remaining structures from a community of roughly 3,000 Japanese Americans who lived on Terminal Island before World War II. Located on Tuna Street, which served as the commercial center of 'Fish Harbor,' the buildings now sit empty on a waterfront street in what has become a heavily industrialized port dominated by container storage facilities. 'Terminal Island is unrecognizable from the once happy loving place where I was born,' former resident Miho Shiroishi said in a statement. 'Having the two buildings there when everything else is gone from the village is a huge comfort ... Without the two Tuna Street Buildings what do you have? Nothing.' Trending on NextShark: A substantial contribution Terminal Island represents a crucial but often overlooked chapter in American history. Its residents were reportedly the first Japanese Americans forcibly removed after Pearl Harbor, with FBI agents arresting fishermen in February 1942 and families given just 48 hours to evacuate. 'Japanese fishermen's contribution was substantial,' Donna Reiko Cottrell, a board member of the Terminal Islanders Association, told the Los Angeles Public Press. 'If you don't believe me, take a look at the LA County flag ... in the bottom left-hand corner, there's a tuna ... that's how important fishing was.' The Port of Los Angeles is reportedly considering demolition of the buildings to make room for container storage, despite their pending nomination for Historic-Cultural Monument status initiated in February 2025 by Councilmember Tim McOsker. Trending on NextShark: What's being done Preservation efforts are led by the Terminal Islanders Association, which has partnered with the National Trust and LA Conservancy to propose solutions, including potentially repurposing the buildings as stores serving port workers. 'We have to have hope,' Terry Hara, president of Terminal Islanders Association, told Pacific Citizen earlier this year. 'Our hope is to preserve the buildings, the last piece of what was part of the Japanese village on Tuna Street to repurpose and help contribute cultural value.' Trending on NextShark: This story is part of The Rebel Yellow Newsletter — a bold weekly newsletter from the creators of NextShark, reclaiming our stories and celebrating Asian American voices. Subscribe free to join the movement. If you love what we're building, consider becoming a paid member — your support helps us grow our team, investigate impactful stories, and uplift our community. Trending on NextShark: Subscribe here now! Download the NextShark App: Want to keep up to date on Asian American News? Download the NextShark App today!
