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The National Park Service (NPS) has awarded the Virginia Department of Historic Resources more than $4.7 million in funding to provide recovery assistance to historic properties including archaeological sites damaged by hurricanes Florence and/or Michael in September and October 2018 that are listed or eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places.

Emergency Supplemental funding from the NPS’s Historic Preservation Fund (ESHPF) allows DHR to provide grants tied to historic properties in 52 counties and cities in Virginia that FEMA has determined eligible for the federal grants.

The counties eligible for funding are Amelia, Appomattox, Botetourt, Brunswick, Campbell, Charles City, Charlotte, Chesterfield, Craig, Cumberland, Dinwiddie, Essex, Floyd, Fluvanna, Franklin, Grayson, Halifax, Henry, Isle of Wight, James City, King and Queen, King William, Lancaster, Lunenburg, Mathews, Mecklenburg, Middlesex, Montgomery, Nelson, New Kent, Northampton, Northumberland, Nottoway, Patrick, Pittsylvania, Powhatan, Prince Edward, Pulaski, Rappahannock, Richmond, Roanoke, Russell, and Westmoreland. The eligible independent cities are Bristol, Danville, Franklin, Galax, Hampton, Martinsville, Newport News, Richmond and Williamsburg.

Eligible jurisdictions can apply to use the Virginia ESHPF Disaster Relief Assistance Grants to fund repairs to historic resources that sustained documented damage during either or both hurricanes. Private owners, not-for-profit organizations, and public administrators of historic properties in these same jurisdictions that FEMA listed in its major disaster declarations 4401 and 4411 are also eligible to apply for grant funding.

Fundable projects in the affected localities that DHR also will consider include surveys of historic (architectural and archaeological) resources –to determine their potential for listing on the National Register of Historic Places, to assess storm-inflicted damage to the resources, and to compile disaster management plans specifically tailored to historic resources.

All projects funded by the grant program must result in plans that improve preparedness and substantially mitigate the threat of damage from future severe storm events.

The Virginia ESHPF Disaster Relief Assistance Grant is a competitive grant program. The deadline for applications is 5 p.m. on Friday, May 22.

DHR will select applications for formal consideration according to a pre-determined set of criteria, provided in the application. As these are reimbursement grants, all grantees must document and provide proof of expenditures and submit the same to recover eligible expenses. For properties potentially eligible for listing on the National Register, such eligibility will be made by the NPS’s Keeper of the National Register prior to project funding.

The application forms and detailed information about eligibility standards and regulations are posted on the DHR website on the Virginia ESHPF Disaster Relief Assistance Grants webpage. (The grants webpage can also be accessed from the DHR homepage (www.dhr.virginia.gov) by clicking on the “Grants” tab on the left-hand navigation menu of the website. On the Grants webpage, scroll down to, and then click on the Virginia ESHPF Disaster Relief Assistance Grants heading.)