Request for Proposals
Preserve America Community Planning Projects

Montana Community Revitalization Project: Heritage Planning for the New Decade

The State Historic Preservation Office has received funding through Preserve America to subgrant funds for community planning projects promoting economic development through heritage tourism and historic preservation. These subgrants are available to designated Preserve America communities, Tribal Historic Preservation Offices, or communities in the process of applying for Preserve America status.

Two funding sources are available:

1. Promotion of economic development through heritage tourism and historic preservation; and
2. Development of downtown planning and capacity building through the Montana Department of Commerce's Main Street program.

If your project involves Main Street, please contact Julie Burk, Main Street Program Coordinator, regarding funding availability and the application process for these projects. Her phone number and e-mail address are: (406)-841-2756, jburk@mt.gov 

The remaining information in this announcement pertains to planning subgrants available through the State Historic Preservation Office. These subgrants will be awarded, through a competitive application process, for the preparation of written feasibility studies, business plans, market research studies, or other documents that examine existing historic properties, and local heritage assets, and develop planning scenarios that will generate revenues and sustainability using a heritage tourism model.

Examples of possible planning projects submitted with our application included:

• An implementation plan to update historic preservation zoning ordinances in Missoula’s historic core National Register Historic Districts;
• A feasibility study reviewing potential uses for the former “Set Free Ministries” historic building in Great Falls, which was heavily damaged in a recent fire;
• A strategic plan to sensitively rehabilitate the historic Rialto Theatre in Terry, listed in the National Register of Historic Places, to display Evelyn Cameron’s, collection of photographs. Evelyn Cameron is famous for her photographs of eastern Montana documenting the rural lifestyle of the early 1900s;
• A feasibility study to demonstrate the viability of acquiring and restoring the historic Northern Pacific Depot in Miles City, that is in the process of being nominated to the National Register of Historic Places;
• A feasibility study addressing the adaptive use of historic structures and compatible new construction in Downtown Bozeman, a National Register Historic District, whose main street suffered a gas explosion and fires that damaged or destroyed several contributing buildings in March 2009;
• A planning initiative promoting the historic properties of Downtown Kalispell that direct visitors into the heart of the city, rather than opting for the truck by-pass; and
• An economic development plan for Virginia City to address ways to fund historic preservation activities in this National Historic Landmark through a local resort tax.

A total of $97,000 is set aside for subgrants to Montana Preserve America Communities, communities applying for Preserve America designation, and/or Tribal Historic Preservation Offices. Subgrant awards will require a 50% cash or in-kind match and will range from a minimum federal award of $5,000 federal share ($10,000 total project cost) to a maximum federal award of $25,000 ($50,000 total project cost).

Attached is the 2010 Application Form along with the Request for Proposals: Guidelines and Application Instructions, which provide more information on the funding offered through the State Historic Preservation Office. Please contact Sonia Powell, Preservation Grants Administrator at (406)-444-7768, spowell2@mt.gov for any questions regarding these subgrants.

• Request for Proposals: Guidelines and Application Instructions
  • 2010 Application Form (WORD) (PDF)