LITTLE ROCK -- The Arkansas Historic Preservation Program, an agency of the Department of Arkansas Heritage, will accept applications for its Main Street Arkansas "Slipcover" Removal and Downtown Revitalization Grant programs through Aug. 11, Main Street Arkansas Director Greg Phillips announced this week.
The "slipcover" grants help finance removal of false façades from historic Main Street Arkansas buildings. The grants are available to certified local Main Street Arkansas programs to assist in returning downtown buildings to their historic appearance.
Downtown Revitalization Grants 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. This year, particular emphasis will be given to projects that will restore windows in Main Street buildings. Grants must be matched on a 1-2 basis (for instance, a $10,000 match will be needed to receive a $20,000 grant) and up to 50 percent of the match may be in in-kind services.
Guidelines and applications for the Main Street grant programs can be acquired by writing the agency at AHPP Grants, 1500 Tower Building, 323 Center St., Little Rock, AR 72201, or by contacting a local Main Street Arkansas executive director. Requests also can be sent to the AHPP via fax at 501-324-9184 or via email at joia@arkansasheritage.org. All applications must be received in the AHPP offices no later than 4:30 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 11.
Main Street Arkansas provides technical assistance and design services that help create economic development in the state's downtown areas. The Main Street approach to downtown revitalization focuses on four areas: design, economic restructuring, organization and promotion.
Cities currently involved in Main Street Arkansas are Batesville, Blytheville, Dumas, El Dorado, Eureka Springs, Hardy, Helena, Jonesboro, Little Rock's South Main Street (SoMa), Osceola, Ozark, Paragould, Rogers, Russellville, Searcy, Siloam Springs, Texarkana and West Memphis. Members of Main Street's Arkansas Downtown Network are Pine Bluff, Heber Springs, Fort Smith, DeWitt, Morrilton, Rector, Monticello, Arkadelphia, Clarksville, Warren, Wynne, Fayetteville, Forrest City, Malvern and Pocahontas. Other sponsors of the Main Street Arkansas program are the Historic Preservation Alliance of Arkansas and the Arkansas Economic Development Commission. To learn more about Main Street Arkansas, visit http://www.arkansaspreservation.com/main-street/.
The AHPP 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 Mosaic Templars Cultural Center, the Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission and the Historic Arkansas Museum.