SPRINGFIELD — Preservation of historic buildings in rural communities, including some in Hampshire County, will be supported through a $750,000 grant from the National Park Service.
The federal agency announced on Thursday that the Pioneer Valley Regional Ventures Center, Inc., a subsidiary of the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission, is receiving the money to support its “Preservation Works in Western Mass” program.
The funding, coming from $9.7 million being distributed through the Paul Bruhn Historic Revitalization Grants, goes to 13 subgrant programs in 12 states. The idea is to support economic development through the preservation of historic buildings in towns with fewer than 12,500 residents.
For Hampshire County, the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission is coordinating the offering of subgrants “to competitively selected preservation and rehabilitation projects on National Register-listed community anchor buildings within the 40 eligible communities with less than 12,500 residents,” said Ellie Stuckrath, a spokeswoman for the National Park Service.
Small communities in Hampden and west central and southwest central Worcester counties will also be able to seek the money.
The grants mark the fifth year of funding for the program honoring the late Paul Bruhn, who served as executive director of the Preservation Trust of Vermont for nearly 40 years.
State and Tribal Historic Preservation Offices, Certified Local Governments and nonprofits were eligible to apply for funding to create a subgrant program for multiple preservation projects in their jurisdictions.
“This National Park Service program is helping rural communities strengthen their economies through historic preservation,” said National Park Service Director Chuck Sams in a statement. “The subgrant programs being carried out at the local level are supporting improvements to historic buildings and fostering economic development across the country.”
Other projects around the country being supported include preservation of historic properties in the Erie Canalway National Heritage Area of upstate New York, with eligible communities adjacent to the Mohawk River and New York State Barge Canal System, and preservation of public and nonprofit-owned buildings in 25 counties in the Appalachian region of Virginia.
The money for the revitalization grants comes from the Historic Preservation Fund, appropriated by Congress based on revenue from federal oil and gas leases on the Outer Continental Shelf.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
