Historic property and business owners in downtown Opelousas have an opportunity to apply for grant funds for rehabilitation projects in Main Street districts. Louisiana Main Street Program was one of nine projects nationwide to receive grant funding through the Historic Revitalization Subgrant Program (HRSP). The National Park Service, which oversees the HRSP grants, awarded Louisiana Main Street $662,000 for the rehabilitation and revitalization of commercial buildings around the state.
Grant awards in the amount of $55,000 each will be given to owners or tenants of historic buildings located within officially designated Louisiana Main Street districts. Applications received from Opelousas Main Street building and/or business owners will compete statewide for grant funding. Funding is available for either interior or exterior building rehabilitation projects.
To be eligible for HRSP funds, a building must be located within a Louisiana Main Street district in a community with less than 50,000 population. The building must also be either individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places or a contributing element in a National Register Historic District. In addition, buildings that are eligible for either of these National Register designations but not currently designated can qualify. All proposed rehabilitation work must comply with The Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation and the proposed work must be approved by the local Historic District Commission
HRSP grant applications must be submitted for review to Melanie Lee-Lebouef, Opelousas Main Street Director by Monday, March 9, 2020. The Opelousas Historic District Commission will meet the week of March 16, 2020 to review the applications for eligibility. The Main Street Director will forward the application to the state office by Friday, March 27, 2020. This project is supported through a grant from the Historic Revitalization Subgrant Program as administered by the National Park Service, Department of Interior.
The Opelousas Main Street boundaries include: starting in a westerly direction at Vine Street at the corner of Union street following west to Liberty Street, then following Liberty Street north to Grolee Street, then following Grolee Street in an easterly direction to Market Street, then in a northerly direction to the southern edge of the railroad track, following in an easterly direction along the track until Union Street, then following Union Street in a southerly direction until Vine Street.
Grant applications, details and deadlines can be viewed online at Opelousas Main Street [cityofopelousas.com] or for more information contact Melanie Lee-Lebouef at tourism@cityofopelousas.com or by calling 337-948-5227.
