The National Trust for Historic Preservation announced this week it again is offering $40,000 awards through its Backing Historic Small Restaurants Grant Program to aid recovery amid challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to an email from the National Trust:
Our mission: award $40,000 grants to 25 historic small restaurants across the country to improve, upgrade, and preserve their exterior physical spaces and online businesses so they can better serve their customers, financially recover, and grow their businesses.
Today, we are asking for your help to find cozy cafes, delicious dives, and other beloved restaurants that have stood the test of time and continue to contribute to their neighborhood’s unique history. Our focus is on independent small restaurants that have been in business for more than 25 years, operate in historic buildings or neighborhoods, and have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic.
We’re accepting nominations from restaurant enthusiasts as well as formal grant applications from restaurant owners. Grant applications and public nominations will be accepted until 11:59 PM ET on April 4, 2022.
Last year, the National Trust awarded $40,000 grants to 25 restaurants, including two in Tulsa.
FAQs on the program can be found here.
The Route 66 Road Ahead Partnership is endorsing the program.
(Excerpted Google Street View image of Stutts House of Bar-B-Que in Tulsa, one of the 2021 winners of the Backing Historic Small Restaurants Grant Program)