Chances of historic preservation grants look good for city

The Florida Division of Historical Resources, the administrator of funds from the Department of State for historic preservation projects, has released its rankings of grant applications for the fiscal year 2019-2020 beginning October 1.  Projects from the City of St. Augustine made the top of this list.

The City of St. Augustine’s “Resilient Heritage in the “Nation’s Oldest City,” a publication on the physical and economic impacts of flooding on historic preservation, was ranked first on the regular Small Matching list. The approved funding amount is $50,000 and a match of $50,000 was committed by the city.

Historic City News learned that three applications were recommended for funding from the federal Certified Local Governments program; which is a dedicated stream of funding for projects and communities that meet specific criteria. St. Augustine ranked first with the recommendation of a $50,000 grant for the West Augustine survey to inventory historic resources in an area of the city that has not been fully studied for historical significance. No match is required for this specialized category. 

Melissa Wissel

Other area projects recommended for funding includes Flagler College’s archaeological investigation at Mission Nombre de Dios, the Lightner Museum’s Historic Structure Report, and the St. Augustine Lighthouse and Museum Oldest Port exhibit.

The Florida Historical Commission will convene to review and rank development projects eligible for Special Category grants September 6-7 in Tallahassee. The city’s grant application for the historic Waterworks building is included on their agenda. These recommendations will be reviewed by and are subject to changes by the Secretary of State and are then submitted to the Florida Legislature for final approval when it meets in the spring of 2019. The funding will be available after July 2019.

The Division’s Small Matching Grant Panel reviewed 60 eligible grant applications from across the state and recommended funding for all but two applications.  To learn more, see a complete statewide list of applications, and track the review process, visit https://dos.myflorida.com/historical/grants/