MDF’s Maine Downtown Center Wins $750,000 National Park Service Grant to Support Historic Preservation in Rural Downtowns

HALLOWELL, Maine - October 8, 2024 The Maine Development Foundation (MDF)'s Maine Downtown Center program is pleased to receive a $750,000 grant fromthe Paul Bruhn Historic Revitalization Grants Program. MDF is one of only 17 recipients in 15 states to receive this funding. Known in Maine as Revitalize ME Downtown, the program will provide grants for historic preservation projects that will foster economic development in Maine's rural downtowns. This is the third time in five years that MDF has received this highly competitive funding. Similar awards in 2019 and 2021 funded projects in Maine's Main Street and Affiliate Communities including Skowhegan, Eastport, Bath, Norway, Dover-Foxcroft and Gardiner, Rumford, Machias, Ellsworth and Augusta.

"Supporting our National Main Street and Affiliate communities by bringing historic preservation funding opportunities to them is one of the most important things MDF's Maine Downtown Center can do," says Anne Ball, Sr. Program Director, Maine Downtown Center. "We are grateful to the National Park Service for funding the work we are doing in Maine."

Revitalize ME Downtown funds are provided by the Historic Preservation Fund, as administered by the National Park Service, Department of Interior. The Historic Preservation Fund is supported by revenue from offshore oil and gas leases, not tax dollars. The program will offer grants to historic property owners for preservation, restoration, rehabilitation, or energy efficiency projects in the downtown areas of communities currently served by the Maine Downtown Center program.

Funding in the form of subgrants will be awarded through a competitive program that will be administered by MDF. These grants will provide desperately needed financial capacity to encourage infrastructure development and leverage private sector investment increasing the commercial, educational, residential, or civic use and value of the historic properties. Grant applications and requirements will be made available in January 2024 at www.mdf.org.

"The National Park Service helps rural areas across the country revitalize their communities through historic preservation," said National Park Service Director Chuck Sams. "This locally stewarded work supports improvements to historic buildings, preserving America's cultural resources while benefiting local economies." 

These grants mark the sixth year of funding for the program honoring the late Paul Bruhn, who served as executive director of the Preservation Trust of Vermont for nearly 40 years. State and Tribal Historic Preservation Offices, Certified Local Governments, special district governments, and nonprofits are eligible to apply for funding to create a subgrant program to fund multiple preservation projects in their rural jurisdictions.