They’re managed by the Md. Historical Trust.
Annapolis, Md (KM) Non-profit organizations, local governments and even some businesses can begin applying for the Historic Preservation Loan program administered by the Maryland Historical Trust. “It’s up to a 20 year loan,”: says Dave Buck, a spokesman for the Maryland Department of Planning, which oversees the Trust. “IF you look at the website, look at the requirements, it’s basically for acquisition, refinancing, rehabilitation of historic properties, and there’s thousands and thousands of historic properties in Maryland.”
Buck says there’s a total of $300,000 available for the program for fiscal year 2023. “I would say normally for this program they’re in the ten to 50,000 range once they come in. It’s a two-month process through January 15th when we take all the applications in,” he says.
The application process is underway now, and the deadline is January 15th, 2024. A preservation easement must be conveyed to the Trust on any assisted property, Buck says.
He also says there are more than 13,000 archaeological sites in Maryland, along with 43,000 architectural and historic sites. But MHT tries not to play favorites when approving these loans. “We tried to be representative. We’re not going to give four or five to one individual town. So we try to look across the whole board. We’ll be able to announce these early next year,” Buck says.
But if a non-profit group, local government or business does not receive a Historic Preservation loan, Buck says the Trust has other funding programs, including “Maryland Heritage Grants; African-American Heritage Program grants. There’s Historic Preservation Capital Grants. So there’s a tax credit, which are very, very popular, homeowner tax credit. Then we have commercial and small commercial tax credit,” he says.
Anyone who wants more information on this program can contact Barbara Fisher, the MHT’s Capital Grant and Loans Administrator, at 410-697-9574, or barbarafisher@maryland.gov.
“It’s really a way to connect us to our past,” says Buck, in response to a question of why preserve these historic properties.
By Kevin McManus
