The Paul Bruhn Historic Revitalization Grant Program fosters economic development in rural communities through the rehabilitation of historic buildings in those communities. The program provides recipients (referred to as prime grantees) with a single grant that is then regranted in smaller amounts to individual projects (subgrants). Neighbors Building Neighborhoods (NBN) applied for the Paul Bruhn Grant in 2023 and was awarded $750,000 to revitalize our historic districts, and they have called their program the Muskogee Historic Revitilation Subgrant Program. NBN, with the assistance of Main Street Muskogee, is developing the grant application for our federally registered historic districts. Note, not all federally registered historic places are eligible; their eligibility falls on their proximity within a federally registered historic district. This means that any of these properties must obtain a Certificate of Appropriateness (COA) before beginning work. To expedite the process of the COA, The Historic Preservation Commission (Commission) has allowed NBN and the subgrant review committee to issue COA's on behalf of the Commission. With experts on Historic Muskogee such as Melony Cary, Rachel Atherton, and a strict adherence to The Secretary of the Interior's Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties, The Commission and Planning Staff feel confident they will correctly issue COAs. The Commission approved this arrangement at the special call meeting on December 14, 2023 |