National Trust for Historic Preservation President Richard Moe and HGTV President Burton Jablin announced May 12 that the third year of the multimillion dollar “Restore America: A Salute to Preservation” partnership will focus on the role that preservation plays in the revitalization of communities, and will support community re-investment projects in 12 cities through on-air and online programming and grants. The grants are intended to further the restoration or rehabilitation of a historic structure for residential use and may be used for professional services or bricks-and-mortar expenses.

“The historic and cultural resources of a community tell the story of its past and make each community distinct,” said Moe. “We hope to work with cities and towns across the nation to preserve the physical reminders of our past that are essential for creating a sense of place, and instilling civic pride and community spirit.”

HGTV donated $1 million to fund community revitalization grants. The 12 projects were selected from more than 100 grant applications from nonprofit organizations and public agencies. Recipients have been awarded grants ranging from $25,000 to $100,000. In addition to funding, beginning in October 2005, these new projects will be featured in public-service announcements on HGTV’s networks and on their Web site, exposing them to more than 80 million viewers. HGTV will begin filming at each site in April.

The 12 grants recipients are:

Baltimore: MacGillivrays. Baltimore’s Mt. Vernon neighborhood saw a number of its elegant mansions converted to medical offices and apartments, including MacGillivray’s Second Empire townhouse. Prompted by the prospect of the house’s demolition for a surface parking lot in the past decade, 18 neighborhood families pooled their resources to purchase the property, with the hope of restoring the eyesore back to the community landmark it once was. The Midtown Development Corporation Inc. will use grant funds to restore MacGillivray’s storefront and develop six market-rate apartments.

Detroit: Lucien Moore House. The Modern Gothic Moore House, built in 1885, has witnessed a dramatic neighborhood shift from stately mansions to apartment buildings in the 1920s and 30s, and, finally, a high incidence of vacancy, crime, and abandonment that has plagued the neighborhood since the 1960s. In the late 1990s, the City of Detroit initiated an aggressive campaign to save the remaining historic properties and promote community-sensitive infill of the vacant land left by demolition. The city will use grant funds to restore the Moore house and divide it into six condos.

Hartford: The Victorian Lady. This large, 1890 Queen Anne home surely drew the attention of neighbors, including Mark Twain and Harriet Beecher Stowe. Over the course of the next 114 years, economic circumstances transformed the structure into four rental units, an automotive claims center, and an office and conference center. Facing demolition in 2004, the Victorian Lady prevailed and was relocated to a vacant lot; hundreds lined the streets and thousands more watched her slow, one-mile journey on TV. Northside Institutions Neighborhood Alliance Inc. will use grant funds to restore the Victorian Lady to its original use as a single-family home.

Houston: Jefferson Davis Hospital. The Classical Revival Jefferson Davis Hospital was the first city-owned hospital in Houston to accept indigent patients. The four-story hospital opened its doors in 1924, but was soon rendered inadequate and replaced by a new Jefferson Davis Hospital in 1938.The old hospital served in various functions over the years, but has been vacant for the past two decades. Artspace Projects Inc. and Avenue Community Development Corporation will use grant funds to transform the old Jefferson Davis Hospital into a residential live/work building filled with 34 units for artists and their families.

Indianapolis: Efroymson House. This massive beige brick Arts and Crafts house and matching carriage house were built in 1905. By mid-century, as the neighborhood began to deteriorate, the Efroymson House was converted into apartments and then eventually became structurally deficient. After more than a decade of sitting unoccupied, the house will be adapted into four apartments in the main house and one in the carriage house by funds granted to the Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana Inc. and the use of federal and state historic tax credits.

Los Angeles: Pacific Electric Building. Completed in 1905 by famed industrialist Henry Huntington, the Pacific Electric Building was Los Angeles’ first skyscraper. Predominately an office building, it also housed an interurban terminal serving 100,000 passengers per day during World War II. The rise of the automobile’s popularity rendered the terminal obsolete by the mid 1960s. Through the early 1980s, the neighborhood and building declined and the property effectively closed down. Grant funds will be used by the Los Angeles Conservancy to adapt the 500,000-square-foot building into 314 loft apartments.

Minneapolis: Martha G. Ripley Maternity Hospital. In 1886, Dr. Martha Ripley, one of the first female doctors in the U.S., established a maternity hospital that welcomed all, without regard to financial status, faith, or ethnicity and was known across the region for its enviable birth statistics. The brick building, completed after Ripley’s death in 1912, successfully operated as a hospital until 1958. Grant funds will be used by the Central Community Housing Trust to transform the vacant hospital into a variety of rental and housing units for low- and moderate-income residents.

New Orleans: Incardonia’s. Incardonia’s, a restaurant and bar run by successful Italian immigrant Joseph Incardonia that once was a local landmark, currently is vacant and has been a badly deteriorated eyesore for years. To make the most of the build’s prominent location on Tchoupitoulas St., grant funds will be used by Preservation Alliance of New Orleans to convert Incardonia’s into four residential units with loft-like layouts to appeal to young buyers and artists.

North Little Rock: Argenta Drug Store. Said to be the oldest continuously operating drug store west of the Mississippi, the Argenta Drug Store has operated in North Little Rock since 1887. Until the 1950s, the second floor—now boarded up and used for storage—housed 11 apartments. The drug store is unique among historic properties in the U.S. due to its prominent location, original architecture, and exclusive operation as a pharmacy. Argenta Community Development Corporation will use grant funds to reopen and rehabilitate the second floor into residential lofts.

Pittsburgh: 800 Block of Mellon Street. The three identical Queen Anne turret houses on the 800 block of Mellon Street were built by Lieutenant James Parker, whose expertise as a wood-crafter found elegant expression in their highly detailed façades. East Liberty Development, Inc., will use grant funds to rehabilitate turret houses—which have steadily deteriorated along with their neighborhood—to provide quality for-sale units to single-family buyers.

San Francisco: Pilots’ Row. Once headquarters for the Coastal Artillery Corps that guarded the entrance to the Golden Gate Bridge during WWI, Pilots’ Row and 13 officers’ quarters were constructed near an airport built along the Presidio’s north edge. The Presidio Trust will use grant funds to restore the homes—which have been vacant for 20 years and need remediation work—for civilian use and to help preserve a national park and National Historic Landmark District.

Savannah: Lincoln Street Neighborhood. With a goal to improve livability, the Lincoln Street initiative, created by the Historic Savannah Foundation, will use grant funds to focus on restoration of the entire neighborhood rather than a single property, with emphasis placed on diversity of building and housing types, home ownership, and rebuilding a sense of place with the Lincoln Street Neighborhood’s current occupants.

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