Roger Roper of the State Historic Preservation Office recently received an award through the Paul Bruhn Historic Revitalization Grants Program. This program is provided by the Historic Preservation Fund and administered by the National Park Service on behalf of the state of Utah.
In turn, Roper made this funding available to cities that participated in the Main Street Program and designated a Tier Two status. Helper City Mayor Lenise Peterman announced that the city was one of seven that were awarded the status, opening up the opportunity.
Helper submitted eight applications by individual property owners to enhance or restore their buildings. In order to apply, a building had to be included within the historic district and of a commercial nature. Seven of eight applications were awarded and three applicants received their full funding requests.
The remaining four applicants received about 75% of the requested funds. Mayor Peterman stated that Helper was thrilled with the results as the process was very competitive and six other cities also provided applications for consideration.
A total of 37 applicants were engaged across the state in this process along with Helper, receiving close to $200,000 for individual business owners on the city’s historic Main Street. Mayor Peterman shared that Helper worked closely with local business owners to bring this amazing opportunity to them and was thrilled that many pursued funding to improve their businesses on Main Street.
“Many thanks to Roger Roper of the State Historic Preservation Office for securing the funding and then developing a program allowing the cities to pursue it,” said Mayor Peterman. “This spring will be exciting with the pending improvements. Keep an eye out for those positive changes!”