$750,000 is now available to support historic preservation in the rural communities of the Genesee Valley, thanks to the National Park Service’s Paul Bruhn Rural Revitalization Grant Program. Letchworth Gateway Villages (LGV), along with the Landmark Society of Western New York and the Rochester Area Community Foundation, contributed a portion of matching funds, securing this opportunity for the region. Local governments, non-profit and commercial property owners, and small businesses in the Genesee Valley are encouraged to apply for grants ranging from $5,000 to $50,000 to preserve the historic places that make our villages so special.
Since LGV won funding from the USDA for the Rural Economic Development Innovation (REDI) Initiative in 2019, the group has brought together a diverse network of 38 organizations across five counties, all with the common goal of establishing the Genesee Valley as a sustainable outdoor recreation and heritage tourism destination. The Valley is uniquely poised to become such a destination, with assets like Letchworth State Park, historic districts, and hundreds of miles of trails, but previously lacked the funding and regional collaboration to capitalize on this potential. It is through the work of LGV — and stakeholders like the Landmark Society and New York State Parks — that the rural Genesee Valley attracted new investment and funding opportunities, such as this grant.
The Genesee Valley Rural Revitalization Grant Program (GVRR) will award the funds, and applications will be available through the Landmark Society of Western New York in early-January 2021. Applications will be due March 31, 2021, for round 1 funding, and September 30, 2021, for the second. The Landmark Society is hosting an informational webinar on this opportunity at 3:30PM on Thursday, January 28, and repeating the same webinar at 12:00PM on Tuesday, February 9. You can register for the webinar at https://www.landmarksociety.org/GVRR; for more information on the grant program, contact Megan Klem, Preservation Planner, at mklem@landmarksociety.org.