WHEELING, W.Va. — Historic districts and structures in Wheeling will soon have the chance to receive a financial boost for restoration courtesy of a national grant from the National Park Service.
Wheeling Heritage recently announced the organization was awarded a $750,000 Paul Bruhn Historic Revitalization Grant by the National Park Service to support the preservation of Wheeling’s historic buildings.
Betsy Sweeny, Director of Heritage Programming at Wheeling Heritage told MetroNews the organization will use the funds to establish a Historic Revitalization Subgrant Program that will provide funding for rehabilitation and restoration projects at contributing structures in Wheeling’s 12 historic districts.
“This program allows local leaders to deploy funds to local community members which is so different compared to other grants. We are looking forward to getting this program up and running, and making an impact in Wheeling,” she said of the uniqueness of a subgrant program.
According to Wheeling Heritage, the organization will establish an advisory committee to help guide and oversee the initiative in collaboration with local preservation professionals. The committee will develop a competitive application package to disperse subgrants between $15,000 and $75,000 to eligible property owners and/or tenants for the rehabilitation and repair of commercial, residential and mixed-use structures, a release said.
Sweeny told MetroNews that Wheeling Heritage has identified over 3,000 contributing structures across Wheeling’s historic districts that could be eligible for support. She said a historical district is defined by a certain number of buildings in the area that have been identified for unique history, personality and architectural appearance, while listed on the National Register of Historic Properties.
“If you’re listed as contributing, your building is designated as contributing to the overall historical magnitude of that neighborhood,” Sweeny said of individual buildings being eligible.
“Any one of those buildings that is considered historic within its district or individually listed in the national register will all be eligible for this program.”
Sweeny said the projects can be large scale, such as the Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel building downtown undergoing a market-rate apartment project, or something that is mixed-used commercial/residential development. She gave an example of a smaller-scale project being an old rope factory in town turning into a food/beverage concept on the first floor and mixed-use on the upper level.
Wheeling Heritage is slated to begin accepting applications in fall 2022 and intends to award all of the funds within 36 months from the start of the program. Advertisement for the program will begin in late spring 2022.
The Paul Bruhn Historic Revitalization Grants awarded a total of $7.5 million to 11 recipients in 10 states to support the preservation of historic buildings in rural communities across the country.
Of the 11 recipients, two were awarded to West Virginia organizations. Sweeny said this is the first time the Wheeling Heritage received this grant.