Paul Bruhn Revitalization Grant Looking Up Downtown Application Period Open
Minnesota Main Streets by Rethos announces applications are now being accepted for the first round of Looking Up Downtown grants.
The Minnesota Main Streets Looking Up Downtown grant program will fund the historic rehabilitation of currently vacant or underutilized upper floors into productive use. Business or building owners within a Minnesota Main Street historic district may apply for up to $50,000 in funding. This competitive grant will fund two rounds of historic rehabilitation and revitalization of historic buildings located in Minnesota Main Streets districts across the state.
Minnesota Main Streets by Rethos is the Main Street America Coordinating Partner. The Looking Up Downtown grant is being funded by the National Park Service (NPS) Paul Bruhn grant.
Looking Up Downtown FAQs
The Minnesota Main Streets “Looking Up” program assists owners of historic rural downtown buildings to rehabilitate their second stories. This is a competitive grant program with funding from Rethos made possible by the Paul Bruhn Historic Revitalization Grants Program through National Parks Service (NPS). To read more about Paul Bruhn click here.
Business or building owners with a building in a rural community (population less than 50,000) located within a Minnesota Main Streets historic district may apply for funding. To qualify, buildings must be listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Buildings that are contributing to a district are eligible. Although buildings can be considered if they aren’t already listed, those properties must have a formal Designation of Eligibility from the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) and MUST be listed by the end of the grant period. Note that it is an involved and lengthy process to gain designation. Costs toward designation cannot be covered by this grant, so it is recommended to have the designation for the building before applying. Buildings must be at least 50 years old and must contribute to the significance of the local Main Street district. Your local Main Street director will assist you in determining if the building meets this eligibility requirement.
We will accept applications for up to $50,000. This grant also requires a 10% match for the application amount. The match must come from non-Federal sources.
This is a historic preservation program, and the focus should be on the preservation and rehabilitation of existing features and spaces. While new fixtures and finishes are allowable, they need to be part of a larger scope of historic preservation and will not be allowed in isolation. Projects must meet the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Historic Preservation and will be subject to Section 106 Review. Read more about Section 106 Review here.
Examples of acceptable uses of the grant could be to offset the costs of installing or repairing a fire suppression system or ADA accessibility. Other possible uses could be electrical or plumbing, energy efficiency, paint, millwork, or flooring.
Ineligible uses of these funds would be new building construction, recreation of historic properties that no longer exist, long-term maintenance beyond the grant period, and/or work performed prior to the grant, and exterior work to the building.
Looking Up is a grant focused on rehabilitating interior spaces. Because of exterior implications, windows cannot be replaced. However, existing windows may be repaired as needed within the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Historic Preservation guidelines.
The Paul Bruhn Historic Revitalization Grant Program is part of the Historic Preservation Fund (HPF), an important source of national grant funding for preservation projects as well as essential funding for State and Tribal Historic Preservation Organizations and Certified Local Governments. Rethos, the parent organization for Minnesota Main Streets received a $700,000 grant to execute the Looking Up Downtown subgrant program and will be administering the Paul Bruhn grant for Minnesota Main Streets communities. Read more about Rethos here.
In brief, grantees undertaking development projects are required to place an easement (also called a covenant) on the entire property to protect the grant-assisted work. These requirements are described more fully here, and an easement example is included in the application as Appendix C.
Preservation easements may be called a “covenant” or “restriction,” depending on jurisdiction. Regardless of what the document is called, a 5-year preservation easement will be recorded with the property title and is a required part of the Looking Up Downtown grant. A key term of your grant agreement is that you will agree to assume, after the completion of the project, the total cost of continued maintenance, repair, and administration of the grant-assisted property in a manner satisfactory to the Secretary of the Interior.
A draft covenant/easement must be submitted to the NPS for review within one calendar year of the date a grant agreement is signed. Following the completion of all grant-assisted work, the preservation covenant/easement must document the grant-assisted condition of the site and the character-defining features. The covenant/easement must then be executed by registering it with the deed of the property. A certified copy of the executed covenant/easement must be submitted to the NPS prior to the end of the award period of performance. Rethos will assist with all easement work.
Start by contacting your Main Street