HomeMy WebLinkAboutAuthorize Submittal of Grant application to the MT Preservation Fund.pdf
Commission Memorandum
REPORT TO: Honorable Mayor and City Commission
FROM: Courtney Kramer, Historic Preservation Officer
Tim McHarg, Planning Director
SUBJECT: Montana Preservation Fund Grant Application
MEETING DATE: May 23, 2011
AGENDA ITEM TYPE: Consent Agenda
RECOMMENDATION: Authorize the Historic Preservation Officer to complete a grant
application to Montana Preservation Fund, offered through the National Trust for Historic
Preservation.
BACKGROUND: The Montana Preservation Fund was established at the National Trust for
Historic Preservation in 2004 to provide small seed grants to nonprofit organizations and local
governments for historic preservation projects. Eligible grant activities include building re-use
feasibility studies, structural investigations, educational workshops, and other planning needed to
help save historic places in Montana. Generally, grants from the fund range from $500 to $5,000
and must be matched on a dollar-for-dollar cash basis.
The Historic Preservation Officer proposes to submit an application, due June 1, for funding of a
structural report and feasibility study of the Northern Pacific Railway Passenger Depot, on Front
Street in Bozeman. The building anchors the NP/ Story Mill Historic District, on the National
Register of Historic Places and a number of community members have expressed interest in
adaptive reuse of the structure. Uncertainty about the building and site, however, have stymied
private investment in the property, and these grant funds could help hire professionals to create
baseline information about the property in order to spur use of the building.
The Northeast Urban Renewal Board offered $15,000 as a cash match for previous grant
applications and that money remains in their FY11 budget.
UNRESOLVED ISSUES: None at this time.
ALTERNATIVES: The City Commission could remove the item from the Consent Agenda
and refuse to authorize the grant application.
FISCAL EFFECTS: The cash match for this item has been budgeted through the Northeast
Urban Renewal Board’s FY11 budgets.
Attachments: Report compiled on: May 13, 2011
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