Los Angeles County Preservation Fund
New Funding Opportunity: Seed Grants for Los Angeles County Historic Preservation Projects
For Spanish language versions of an announcement about the newly established Los Angeles County Preservation Fund and the grant application form and guidelines click here.
Para obtener versiones en español de un anuncio sobre el recientemente creado "Los Angeles County Preservation Fund" y el formulario de solicitud del subsidio y las pautas, pulse aquí.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation announces a grant program targeting historic preservation across Los Angeles County. Grants from the newly created Los Angeles County Preservation Fund will provide seed monies (typical award $5,000 to $10,000) to nonprofit organizations and government agencies for preservation, stewardship, and community revitalization involving historic resources.
Friends of La Laguna in San Gabriel received a $3,000 grant to support research on the history and condition of the whimsical concrete play sculptures (1959-60), designed by Mexican-born Benjamin Dominguez, near Legg Lake in the Whittier Narrows Park.
Credit: David Zárate
Initial funding for this Los Angeles County opportunity has been made possible by support from the Getty Foundation, matched by additional funding from the Ahmanson Foundation. Uniting funding from two visionary Los Angeles philanthropic institutions, the Los Angeles County Preservation Fund provides a dedicated fund to support preservation and community revitalization across Los Angeles County. The newly established fund will showcase and build awareness of historic preservation efforts in the nation's most populous county.
City governments, government agencies, and 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations are eligible to apply and the application deadline for the inaugural grant round will be November 6, 2009. Individuals and private, for profit businesses are not eligible to apply.
Grant awards will support activities and projects such as:
- Providing consulting services in areas such as architecture, archaeology, engineering, preservation or land-use planning, economics, fundraising, organizational development, media relations, education, and law
- Sponsoring workshops or community forums
- Designing, producing, and marketing printed materials or other media communications to advance historic preservation
- Bricks-and-mortar construction activities at designated historic sites and structures
- Surveys and inventories of historic resources
In 2006 the Western Office awarded $2,500 to the Santa Monica Conservancy to prepare a historic assessment report for one of the last remaining, intact "shotgun houses" (ca. 1890s, local) in Santa Monica. The SMC plans to rehabilitate the Shotgun House and open a preservation resource center in it, and this historic assessment report is helping guide them in those efforts.
Credit: Santa Monica Public Library Image Archives
Funds may not be used: to acquire property or purchase equipment; to conduct academic research; for salaries, operating, or overhead expenses; or to raise general operating funds towards capital campaign goals.
The catalytic seed grants are intended to build credibility, leverage additional support, and provide momentum to get community preservation projects off the ground, providing capital in early stages and at critical junctures. Cash awards ranging from $5,000 to $10,000 will be distributed to assist governments and government agencies, fledgling grassroots groups, and seasoned organizations: contract for professional services; conduct planning to overcome obstacles; restore historic properties; take steps to reinvigorate historic neighborhoods; and build public awareness of historic preservation activities in Los Angeles County.
The application for Los Angeles County Preservation Fund, as well as complete guidelines and instructions, can be downloaded here.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation considers its national program of providing seed grants to historic preservation efforts a hallmark of its work to bring people together "to protect, enhance and enjoy the places that matter to them."
Los Angeles County's 4,084 square miles are home to an inspiring range of irreplaceable heritage resources; its 88 contributing cities hold 421 National Register-listed resources, 91 state monuments, 6 California Register sites, over 900 Historic Cultural Monuments (local landmarks), and 22 Historic Preservation Overlay Zones (Historic Districts). Like heritage resources nationwide, cherished and distinct community landmarks across Los Angeles County -- humble to magnificent -- are at risk: threatened by demolition, natural disaster, urban sprawl, and deferred maintenance.
In June 2007 a $5,000 grant was given to the East LA Community Corporation in East Los Angeles to develop restoration plans for the Mariachi Hotel (1889, State & Local). A rare example of surviving Victorian brick architecture, the hotel has provided a home to low-income Mariachi musicians in L.A. for the last 40 years.
Credit: East LA Community Corporation
The Los Angeles County Preservation Fund will be coordinated by the National Trust for Historic Preservation Western Office, in San Francisco, in collaboration with the Los Angeles Conservancy, a Partner of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Applicants are required to contact the National Trust for Historic Preservation Western Office for assistance in identifying an appropriate eligible project prior to submitting an application. Contact: Melita Jureša-McDonald/Elizabeth Boylan/Hugh Rowland, Western Office at 415.947.0692 or wro@nthp.org.
For Spanish language versions of an announcement about the newly established Los Angeles County Preservation Fund and the grant application form and guidelines click here.
