SHPO's Joy Sears assisting with a project in Klamath Falls. September 21, 2017 Episode.
One of the ongoing missions of our show is to provide assistance to owners of historic properties. Historic property maintenance is a labor of love, wrapped in specific requirements and technical know-how that often comes with a hefty price-tag. To encourage these dedicated stewards of our historic legacy, the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO), part of the Heritage/Cultural Division of the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department (OPRD), employs experts to help property owners understand the various federal and state incentive programs available, as well as providing hands-on technical expertise. Joy Sears, SHPO's restoration specialist and manager of the tax incentive programs, joined us again to talk about programs available to private homeowners as well as city organizations, and to share some opportunities to learn or refine your restoration skills.
One of the ongoing missions of our show is to provide assistance to owners of historic properties. Historic property maintenance is a labor of love, wrapped in specific requirements and technical know-how that often comes with a hefty price-tag. To encourage these dedicated stewards of our historic legacy, the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO), part of the Heritage/Cultural Division of the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department (OPRD), employs experts to help property owners understand the various federal and state incentive programs available, as well as providing hands-on technical expertise. Joy Sears, SHPO's restoration specialist and manager of the tax incentive programs, joined us again to talk about programs available to private homeowners as well as city organizations, and to share some opportunities to learn or refine your restoration skills.
Photo courtesy SHPO One of the newer programs SHPO administers is the Main Street Oregon program, part of a national program sponsored by the National Trust for Historic Preservation along with several partner organizations. This program is available to recognized downtown groups throughout the country as an effort to help revitalize their downtown cores. Oregon has 81 communities involved in one of the four Main Street America categories. Joy announced that in 2017 the Oregon program was awarded $2.5 million in matching-grant funds to distribute to eligible applicants. Twenty-five grants were awarded to Main Street organizations across the state, with projects ranging from rehabilitating an historic hotel in Astoria to opening a downtown brewery in McMinnville. In 2019, SHPO will have $5 million to distribute! Check out the Main Street link for more information.
SHPO also administers both federal and state tax incentive programs, some available to income-producing properties (like the recent Roth/McGilchrist Building, left), and others to residential properties. The residential program, known as Special Assessment, was the first such offered in the nation, and allows a freeze of your property taxes for a period of ten years in order to direct those funds to approved restoration/rehabilitation projects. The program is extendable under certain circumstances, but after the eligible period is over, your property taxes return to the current market value at that time. As in any type of balloon-payment loan arrangement (even if you're actually loaning to yourself), the eventual financial impact should definitely be part of your overall project planning to avoid receiving an unwanted surprise at the end.
| SHPO has partnered with Salem's historic preservation program and the Historic Landmarks Commission in recent years to offer several hands-on restoration skills workshops. Often held in conjunction with National Preservation month in May, these workshops have focused on repairing historic windows and seismic retrofit for commercial buildings. but a seismic retrofitting for residential properties is planned for Spring 2018. Joy also reported that a specialized research program is working on developing retrofitting methods that will be less intrusive to the structure. The goal of the study group is have new methods available to the public in three years. The City of Salem has uploaded several how-to videos regarding window repair and replacement to the Remodel & Repair Historic Buildings page of their website. They are located toward the bottom of that page, so scroll down and check them out. |  Photos from Window Workshop sponsored by HLC/SHPO  |
If you have any questions about any of the programs mentioned, or just want some technical advice for your next preservation project, please contact Joy at SHPO. She travels all across the state providing services to local governments and citizens, so she is often away from her Salem office. You may need to leave her a message or an email. Rest assured, however, she will be getting back with you as soon as possible--even from out-of-town. You can contact her by phone at 503-986-0688, or email her at [email protected].
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