The Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program ended last year, but the National Trust for Historic Preservation partially has taken up the cause of doling out cost-share grants.
The National Trust program has earned the endorsement of the Route 66 Road Ahead Partnership and Kaisa Barthuli, the longtime executive director of the Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program.
The partnership stated in a news release Tuesday:
NTHP preservation grants are a source of financial assistance for historic sites on Route 66, which is one of the National Trust’s National Treasures. In addition to general preservation grants, the National Trust has dedicated grant funds for several Route 66 states including Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico and California. Funds are also available for Modernism and preservation efforts for native cultures in both Arizona and New Mexico. Grants are generally $2,500 to $5,000 and require a 1:1 match that can be cash, in-kind, or staff time funding.
NTHP preservation grants are available for planning, education or outreach related projects. Grants are not available for “bricks and mortar” projects. Applicants must be a public agency, 501(c)(3), or other nonprofit entity. For a private entity to be eligible, it must have an eligible entity as a fiscal agent. Applications are due by or before Oct. 1, 2020. For additional information access NTHP guidelines and eligibility and/or contact grants@savingplaces.org.
Barthuli wrote in an email about the program:
As you are aware, the National Park Service Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program will not be offering a grant program in 2020. However, I wanted to make you aware of other funding opportunities through the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s preservation grant programs. As you are likely aware, the National Trust has designated Route 66 as one of their National Treasures, and is a great source of financial assistance for historic sites on Route 66.
In addition, African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund Grants are available:
African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund Grants are designed to help tell our nation’s full history by drawing attention to the stories that evoke centuries of African American activism and achievement in the United States. Stories and places of African American culture and heritage have always existed, but too often have not been fully acknowledged for the integral role they play in the fabric of American society. These competitive grants range from $50,000-150,000 and support projects in four different areas including: Capital Projects, Organizational Capacity Building, Project Planning, and Programming and Interpretation.” Matching funds are helpful, but not required. The next deadline for grant applications is in January 2021. For additional information, access African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund Grants and/or contact grants@savingplaces.org.
The Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program announced its final cost-share grants in July. Since 2001, the program awarded a total of $2.27 million in grants with $3.57 million in cost-share matches to 152 projects. That totaled $5.84 million in public-private investment toward the revitalization and commemoration of Route 66.
The program originally was supposed to last just 10 years after Congress enacted it in 1999, but it received an extension in 2009.
(Image of a Route 66 shield on the road in Adrian, Texas, by Thomas Hawk via Flickr)