Wheeling Heritage has been awarded a $750,000 Paul Bruhn Historic Revitalization Grant by the National Park Service to support the preservation of Wheeling’s historic buildings.
Previously, Wheeling Heritage received a Paul Bruhn Historic Revitalization Grant for the same amount in 2021, and recently awarded the last of its funds. With this award, the organization will continue to use the funds to support the Historic Revitalization Subgrant Program. This program provides funding for rehabilitation and restoration projects in Downtown Wheeling and its historic urban neighborhoods.
“Historic preservation projects are challenging and often discarded as ‘too difficult’ or ‘unfundable’ – that’s why grants like this are so catalytic. We can demonstrate the catalytic effect of gap financing,” said Betsy Sweeny, director of heritage programming for Wheeling Heritage.
Since creating the Wheeling Revitalization Subgrant Program in 2021, the organization has allocated $750,000 to nearly a dozen different projects. The intent of the program is to provide gap-filling financing to projects that might otherwise be stalled if left unfunded. Wheeling Heritage, in collaboration with local preservation professionals, will continue to evaluate applications and distribute funds through an advisory committee.
“We are so grateful for another opportunity to help many of these projects become a reality,” said Scott Schenerlein, Wheeling Heritage executive director. “I am very proud of the Wheeling Heritage team and their efforts to obtain this funding for Wheeling. We are excited to continue to see the impact of the Wheeling Historic Revitalization Subgrant Program for our city.”
Wheeling Heritage is slated to reopen the application in January 2024 and intends to award all of the funds within 36 months from the start of the program.
The National Park Service (NPS) announced nearly $9.7 million in Paul Bruhn Historic Revitalization Grants to 13 subgrant programs in 12 states today to support economic development through the preservation of historic buildings in rural communities across the country.
This project is supported through the Paul Bruhn Historic Revitalization Grants Program, provided by the Historic Preservation Fund, as administered by the National Park Service, Department of Interior. For more information about HPF grants and the Paul Bruhn Historic Revitalization Grants program, visit go.nps.gov/revitalization.
Check out this video featuring one of Wheeling Heritage’s Historic Revitalization Subgrant Program recipients:
