Greenwood has received a $5,000 grant through the Mississippi Department of Archives and History to redefine its central city historic district.
Main Street Greenwood Executive Director Brantley Snipes, who has been working on the redistricting, said the grant will help pull together downtown Greenwood’s multiple historic districts into one central commercial district.
“We’ll submit a proposal to the Department of the Interior to redefine our historic districts,” Snipes said.
“The existing district lines don’t cover everything. For example, they cover half of Fulton Street but not the rest of Fulton Street.”
She said unifying the historic district designation will make it easier for building owners to qualify for historic tax credits, a significant incentive for purchasing and preserving one of downtown’s older buildings.
Snipes said a firm that has already helped Greenwood formalize its resource inventory of historic buildings has expressed interest in writing the formal recommendation that would be submitted to change existing historic designations. The $5,000 will pay for those services.
A total of $63,000 was awarded by MDAH for preservation projects across the state in Certified Local Government (CLG) communities.
CLG is a federal-state-local partnership designed to assist communities in dealing with preservation needs through funding and technical assistance.
Some of the other 2018 grants include money to help restore historic buildings, to develop interactive websites of historic districts, and to develop interpretive materials related to historic districts.
There are 57 CLG communities in Mississippi. Grants went to 10 communities, ranging from $1,250 to $12,500.
Funding comes from the Historic Preservation Fund, a federal grants program administered by the National Park Service which supports Mississippi’s Historic Preservation Division of MDAH.
•Contact Kathryn Eastburn at 581-7235 or keastburn@gwcommonwealth.com.
