In 2007, the City of Billings was designated as a Preserve America Community. By that designation, the City of Billings is able to apply for Preserve America grant funds for a variety of historic preservation activities.

In 2001, the Yellowstone Historic Preservation Board, with assistance of the Community Development Division, created A Walking Tour of Historic Downtown Billings that was distributed to promote tourism in the downtown. That publication is now out of print and out of date. The Yellowstone Historic Preservation Board would like to apply for a Preserve America Grant to develop an Electronic Downtown Walking Tour Guide as well as printed copies to be distributed throughout area hotels and tourist locations. To do this, the Yellowstone County Historic Preservation Board would submit a grant application to the Montana State Historic Preservation Office for Preserve America Grant funds. The total project is estimated at $10,000, with $5,000 from the Preserve America Grant and $5,000 from local matching funds, as required by the grant. Local match funding is being sought from community partners for this project and does not have to be secured at time of application.  

The City Council may:
1. Approve the Mayor signing the Preserve America Grant Application
2. Deny the Mayor signing the Preserve America Grant Application
3. Delay action

City Council approval would allow the Yellowstone Historic Preservation Board to apply for Preserve America Grant Funds. There is no direct cost associated with applying for these funds. If the grant is awarded and the local matcing funds of $5,000 are needed, staff is discussing community participation from other organizations to provide the match. The match may include in-kind contributions, which makes the securing of the match more flexible for the community.

Staff recommends that the City Council authorize the Mayor to sign the Preserve America Grant Application for $5,000.