The Washington Trust for Historic Preservation has announced the recipients of the 2012 Valerie Sivinski Washington Preserves Fund grant awards. In Pierce County, the recipients include:

Historic Fort Steilacoom Association — $500 to paint the officer’s quarters present at the fort. Dating to the 1850s, the four structures represent several of the earliest buildings remaining in the state and are part of the Fort Steilacoom Historic District, listed in the National Register of Historic Places;

The University Place Historical Society — $1,000 to help restore the deck on the National Register-listed Curran House. Once threatened with demolition, the Curran House now sits as a wonderful example of mid-century residential architecture.

Each year, through the Valerie Sivinski Washington Preserves Fund, the Washington Trust for Historic Preservation provides grant funding to organizations across the state engaged in preserving local historic resources. From schoolhouses to courthouses, agricultural to industrial, funding through the program assists preservation projects where they really happen — at the local level.

Since 1998, the Fund has awarded 90 projects totaling nearly $80,000 in funding to local historic preservation organizations and advocates engaged in the important work of preserving Washington’s cultural heritage. While priority is given to bricks and mortar rehabilitation of historic resources, eligible projects have also included preservation planning and interpretation of important sites around the state. Funding for the grant program is obtained from private donations to the Trust with the goal of providing a minimum of $10,000 in grant funding per year.

Blue Mountain Heritage Society — $1,000 to assist with window and door rehabilitation on the Smith Hollow Schoolhouse in Dayton. This is a single element of a comprehensive project to fully rehabilitate the former one room school;

Clallam County — $500 toward restoration of the parapet on the Old Fire Hall in Port Angeles. Together with the Clallam County Courthouse and the Carnegie Library (currently a museum run by the Clallam County Historical Society), the Fire Hall comprises the National Register-listed Port Angeles Civic Historic District;

Daughters of the Pioneers of Washington, Whatcom County Chapter #5 — $1,000 to assist with replacing wood shakes on the roof of the George Pickett House in Bellingham, a resource listed in the National Register of Historic Places;

Friends of Skamokawa Foundation — $1,000 to rehabilitate the bell on the 1894 Redmen Hall, formerly the Central Skamokawa School. Part of the Skamokawa National Register Historic District, this building has been a community preservation effort since the Friends purchased it in 1985;

Harline Betterment Association — $1,000 to develop as-built drawings for the Hartline School in Grant County. With school consolidation forcing the closure of Hartline School, members of the community, working with local public officials, are well on their way to finding a new use and, therefore, a new life for the National Register-listed school building;

Northern Kittitas County Historical Society — $1,000 to assist with exterior masonry rehabilitation to the Telephone Museum in Cle Elum. The museum contains a rare manually operated switchboard system and interprets changes in telephone technology as well as life in this small mountain town;

The Sammamish Heritage Society — $500 to help with costs to relocate the Reard-Freed House, the first resource to be listed on the City of Sammamish Register of Historic Places. The group is very near to reaching its goal or raising $70,000. The City of Sammamish has committed to matching this amount, enabling the farmhouse to be successfully moved to a local park;

San Juan County Parks Department — $1,500 toward the rehabilitation of the Brann Cabin, listed in the Washington Heritage Register. Grant funds will go toward door restoration, one of the final stages of a comprehensive project undertaken by San Juan County to restore an early settler’s cabin;

Spokane Valley Heritage Museum — $1,000 to help restore the historic scroll sign situated above the entry of the Opportunity Township Hall in Spokane Valley. Designed in the Spanish Colonial Mission style, the National Register-listed structure is unique for the region. Restoration of the sign is planned as part of the building’s centennial celebration in 2012;

The Washington Trust for Historic Preservation is a statewide, tax exempt 501(c) 3 non- profit organization founded in 1976 to safeguard Washington’s historic places through advocacy, education, collaboration and stewardship. For more information, visit http://www.wa-trust.org .

– – – - - – – - - – – - - – – - - – – - - – – –

For related Tacoma Daily Index coverage, click on the following links:

Endangered Properties: A historic list no property owner wants to join (05/25/11) — http://www.tacomadailyindex.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=88&cat=23&id=1980803&more=0

Historic preservation group calls Tacoma’s Old City Hall ‘endangered’ (05/24/11) — http://www.tacomadailyindex.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=88&cat=23&id=1979640&more=0

Washington Trust seeks nominees for 2011 endangered historic properties (02/14/11) — http://www.tacomadailyindex.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=88&cat=23&id=1925011&more=0

Washington Trust names historic preservation award recipients (01/20/11) — http://www.tacomadailyindex.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=88&cat=23&id=1911718&more=0

Puyallup’s Meeker Mansion awarded $2K historic preservation grant (01/12/11) — http://www.tacomadailyindex.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=88&cat=23&id=1906638&more=0

Coke Oven Park listed as endangered historic site (06/03/10) — http://www.tacomadailyindex.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=88&cat=23&id=1781830&more=0

Curran House, Oberlin Church awarded historic preservation grants (04/27/10) — http://www.tacomadailyindex.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=88&cat=23&id=1759705&more=0

Washington Trust seeks nominations for 2010 Endangered Historic Properties List (02/10/10) — http://www.tacomadailyindex.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=88&cat=23&id=1713365&more=0

The Washington Trust: In an old hilltop mansion, a strong voice for preservation (04/14/09) — http://www.wahmee.com/tdi_wa_trust.pdf

Long List of Concerns for Washington State Preservationists: An interview with Washington Trust for Historic Preservation’s Jennifer Meisner (05/29/08) — http://www.wahmee.com/tdi_jennifer_meisner_qa.pdf