The Preserve America Program awarded 43 grants in 2007 totaling nearly $2.6 million. Bellingham was awarded $150,000, the maximum granted to Preserve America recipients. The federal grant program provides funds on a matching basis to assist Preserve America Communities with marketing, planning and educational efforts associated with protection and utilization of community heritage assets. For more information visit the Preserve America website at www.preserveamerica.gov.
As part of a
Preserve America
grant award (1,000K PDF), the City of Bellingham worked with neighbors,
students and other volunteers to conduct an historic resource survey and
inventory of three of it's older neighborhoods:
Lettered Streets,
York, and
South Hill.
These neighborhoods were selected for the project because they were able to
demonstrate neighborhood-wide commitment to the project, collectively
pledged 3000 hours in volunteer match, had organized neighborhood historic
preservation committees and were actively seeking preservation assistance
from the City. Additionally, the project advances long-standing neighborhood
revitalization goals for the Lettered Streets and York Neighborhoods, two of
the City's Community Development Block Grant Target Neighborhoods.
Identifying cultural and historic resources was the first step toward
understanding the architectural, social and historical significance of a
place, and is instrumental in defining neighborhood character. Neighborhood
volunteers and Western Washington University students worked with
consultants from
Historic
Preservation Northwest (HPNW) to learn how to complete historical
research, describe architectural style and write statements of significance
for buildings over 50 years old. As part of the survey, buildings and other
historic resources constructed before 1960 have been photographed,
documented and researched to reveal their history, architectural style and
character-defining features. Information and photos from the survey are
being incorporated into the City's
Geographic Information System (GIS) (PDF 1.17MB) so they can be used by
the neighborhoods for mapping, planning, illustration and interpretation.
