The downtown area of Siloam Springs is getting a face lift as multiple grants from the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program (AHPP) are helping bolster funding for restoration and renovation projects.
The city has been approved for more than $166,600 in grant funds since 2014 through the AHPP. However, not all the grants were accepted by property owners, nor did the city get all the grants to which officials applied.
Customers and the casual passerby of City Barber Shop may have already noticed some of the work in progress. The barber shop is the oldest running business in the city, according to the grant application filed by Main Street Siloam Springs (MSSS). It was built in 1899 and operated as a hotel and bank until it changed owners after 1910 and became the Youree Hotel, which was in business until a fire in 1970.
"There are a couple of really exciting things about this project ... part of the overall renovation project will include eight new apartment units in what was a vacant upper floor," said Meredith Bergstrom of MSSS. "They received a grant to help with the cost of removing some (historically) inappropriate yellow vinyl siding and exposing, or restoring, several original window openings. And they will replace the windows and it will also be used to remove a wooden awning and expose the original transom windows."
The aforementioned grant's application was submitted in September 2014, and MSSS was notified of the grant's approval in March 2015. The work must be completed by September 2015, Bergstrom said. The grant was for matching funds of more than $66,000.
Ability Tree, 310 E. Main Street, also received a grant with the help of MSSS, Bergstrom said. The grant was to remove a slipcover, a false wooden facade that hides the building's original glass or ceramic blocks and tiles. The grant was applied for in 2014 and the project was completed this year. The grant was for matching funds of more than $22,500.
MSSS submitted applications for four grants in 2014, but received approval for only the Youree Hotel and the Ability Tree slipcover removal. In 2015 they submitted applications for six, but only received one. Bergstrom said.
That one was for another slipcover removal grant for a storefront on South Broadway. MSSS applied for the grant on behalf of the property owner, and received approval for the more than $6,000 grant in the same year. But the property owner declined the grant funds for the project, Bergstrom said.
More recently, the city received a portion of a noncompetitive grant for downtown revitalization. The grant was a total of more than $240,000, and the city will receive $15,000 of that for building rehabilitation, parks, streets improvements and other design-related projects, according to a release from AHPP. This grant was not applied for, but it was awarded to the city because its certified Main Street program met the multiple requirements for it.
Fifteen other certified Main Street Arkansas programs received money from the restoration grant, which was funded through the state Real Estate Transfer Tax.
Also, the city received a $56,666 Historic Preservation Restoration Grant for roof restoration at the former Siloam Springs Post Office. The Museum Board applied for the grant in 2015, and it was awarded to the city in the same year.
The old post office is in the process of becoming the Siloam Springs Museum, which is a $1 million project, said Trisha Posey, president of the Museum Board. The city has agreed to match half the funds to complete the project, Posey said. The $56,000 grant will go toward the museum's half of the fund raising attempts, even though the city accepted the grant because the city owns the property, Posey said.
This leaves the Museum Board with more than $400,000 to raise to cover the cost of the project, she added.
"We will be looking for major donors and small donors that are wiling to give small amounts, so this is something the community can be a part off," Posey said when asked about the board's future fund raising plans. "We are looking for people who are willing to give $10 or $20 for this because we want the community to take ownership of this place, it is theirs. We want their support, we would like them to continue to pay attention to museum activities that are going on because even as we prepare to move into the post office we will have active programming."
The fundraising attempts by the museum will be completed by early 2017 hopefully, but the renovation and move will take more time, Posey said.
The amount of grants recieved by the city is high compared to past years, Bergstrom said. She said she believes the increase in grant activity is because of more aggressive strategy in searching and applying for grant opportunities.
"This is fantastic, this is not normal, and it is really wonderful," she said. "For one, I would say that I think because of the presence of Main Street Siloam Springs. We have been strategically trying to pay attention to grants that are available to Siloam Springs and the museum is doing the same."
She added that as a nonprofit her organization can best help the city by finding and being approved for multiple grants.
"We facilitated the creation of a master plan for downtown Siloam Springs," Bergstrom said. "It was voted on in 2014 and the city has adopted it as the official city plan. So, our role for the next five to seven years is trying to advocate on behalf of the city to implement that plan, and strategically as a board, we thought the best way to do that was to pursue grant opportunities because that is not money that the city has to spend out of its budget."
Meanwhile officials from the AHPP, the organization that approved all the previously mentioned grants, have not noticed the admittedly abnormal amount of grants that are being sent this way.
"I really just don't have a basis for that, I have worked here for 25 years and I would not know offhand whether there are more or not," said Mark Christ, spokesperson for Arkansas Historical Preservation Program. "The main thing I would say is they are writing good grant applications and they got good projects. They are writing good applications for deserving projects."
Christ added that there are several factors in determining if a project is deserving of a grant. For example, he said, restoration grant committees look at the importance of the building and the potential uses for it. He also said that Siloam Springs has a good preservation ethic and a strong Main Street program.
"One thing is for sure, it is a good time for Siloam Springs," Bergstrom said. "It is a good time for Downtown. There has been a lot of development and momentum for the past couple of years."
General News on 07/29/2015