$3.5 Million in Grants Available from the Montana Historic Preservation Competitive Grant Program

The 2009 session of the Montana State Legislature passed House Bill 645, sponsored by Representative Jon Sesso of Butte-Silver Bow. The bill, also known as the Montana Reinvestment Act, is the state legislation to implement the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). Governor Brian Schweitzer signed the bill into law on May 14, 2009. HB 645 established several programs including the Historic Preservation Competitive Grant Program, which is “for the awarding of grants to public or private entities for the preservation of historic sites within the State of Montana.”

HB 645 provided $4 million for Historic Preservation Competitive Grants. From that amount, HB 645 set aside funding for three specific historic preservation projects:

o Marcus Daly Mansion at Hamilton: $50,000 for Restoration and Preservation

o St. Mary’s Mission at Stevensville: $40,000 for Restoration and Preservation

o Traveler’s Rest Historic Site at Lolo: $180,000 for Restoration and Preservation

In addition, the Legislature provided that 2.71% of the appropriation ($105,540) may be used by the Montana Department of Commerce (MDOC) for administrative expenses to implement the program. After subtracting the funding for the three projects and program administration, $3,624,460 is available for new historic preservation grants.

According to the Montana Preservation Alliance, Montana is the only state in the country to have allocated federal stimulus funds for historic preservation grants. We have had many inquiries regarding the program so we know there is tremendous interest in this unique funding opportunity. We realize that some have been frustrated by the delay in getting the program under way. In addition to establishing the Historic Preservation Grant Program, HB 645 also provided $10 million for cities and towns and the $10 million for counties for local infrastructure grants. The statute directed the Department of Commerce to “…disburse the funds to recipients as quickly as possible.” Given our limited staff, that had to be our first priority and has involved drafting individual contracts with 185 local governments. That program is now well under way and we are in the process of recruiting two additional staff to help us with both programs.

This is the website address for the HB 645 Historic Preservation Competitive Grants Program: http://recovery.mt.gov/commerce/HPG/default.mcpx

The text on the website is the draft of the proposed guidelines for the program. The website also includes a link to the proposed application form for the program. Comments on the draft program guidelines and application form should be sent to:

HB 645 Historic Preservation Competitive Grant Program

Montana Department of Commerce

Community Development Division

PO Box 200523

301 South Park Avenue

Helena, MT 59620-0523

FAX: (406) 841-2771

Phone: (406) 841-2770

E-mail: [email protected]

We are requesting that interested persons and organizations provide comments to us on the proposed historic preservation guidelines by August 20th. We hope to have the guidelines for the historic preservation grant program finalized by early September. Our intent is to invite applications for historic preservation grants in September with an application deadline in November, 2009. Depending upon the number of applications received, we would hope to have the applications ranked and grant awards made by January, 2010. This would allow the successful grant recipients to conduct necessary project planning, engineering, or architectural work during the winter months so they could be ready to begin construction in the spring.

Please forward this e-mail to anyone that you think may be interested in the HB 645 Historic Preservation Competitive Grant Program.

Dave Cole, Administrator

Community Development Division

Montana Department of Commerce

PO Box 200523

301 South Park Avenue

Helena, MT 59620-0523

Phone: (406) 841-2776

FAX: (406) 841-2771

e-mail: [email protected]

http://comdev.mt.gov/