INDIANAPOLIS – The Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs recently announced that 10 properties will be awarded $728,671 through the Historic Renovation Grant Program. The program is designed to preserve and rehabilitate historic properties to further incentivize downtown economic development across Indiana.
Eligible properties for this grant program must be at least 50 years old and either listed on the register of Indiana historic sites and structures, be listed or eligible for listing to the National Register of Historic Places, or be listed as a contributing resource in a National Register District. Awarded properties will receive funding for the renovation and preservation of exterior features.
A local project that will be awarded funding is the Brick Street Restaurant in North Vernon. It receives $61,693 to restore the original façade, including masonry work and replacement of non-historic windows with period-appropriate windows. The building, built in the 1870s, was home to the Couchman Fur business for much of the 1900s. The Brick Street Restaurant has preserved the historical atmosphere of the building and has become a local hometown dining establishment.