Frontier to Statehood Preservation Fund

The Frontier to Statehood Preservation Fund is a historic preservation grant program administered by the Preservation Alliance of West Virginia (PAWV) in honor of the 250th anniversary of the United States. The program provides a total of $500,000 in subgrant funding to support the rehabilitation, restoration, adaptive reuse, and continued use of historic buildings in West Virginia that were originally constructed on or before 1871. The initiative commemorates the legal recognition of West Virginia's statehood by the U.S. Supreme Court in Virginia v. West Virginia (1871) and seeks to preserve structures connected to colonial settlement, the American Revolution, and the state's early development. Funding for the program is provided through the Paul Bruhn Historic Revitalization Grant Program administered by the National Park Service within the U.S. Department of the Interior. The program is designed to strengthen cultural heritage tourism destinations and preserve community-serving historic resources throughout West Virginia. PAWV emphasizes that the grants are intended not only to protect historic architecture, but also to support economic revitalization, tourism, and public engagement with local history. Priority consideration will be given to projects involving cultural heritage tourism destinations open to the public, buildings that provide important community services such as libraries, schools, recreation facilities, cemeteries, community centers, and public buildings, and projects that demonstrate construction readiness, local support, and a nonfederal match contribution. Eligible historic properties must either be individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places or be listed as contributing structures within a National Register Historic District. Eligible applicants include nonprofit organizations, private individuals, businesses, state and local governmental agencies, educational institutions, and religious entities. Applicants may request up to $100,000 in grant funding for eligible preservation activities. The program supports a wide range of physical preservation work including foundation repair, roof replacement and repair, masonry repair and repointing, window and door rehabilitation, stabilization and treatment of log structures, accessibility upgrades, interior renovations excluding furnishings and appliances, and mechanical or electrical system improvements. All work funded through the program must comply with the Secretary of the Interior's Standards and Guidelines for Archeology and Historic Preservation, as well as applicable federal, state, and local laws and regulations including the National Historic Preservation Act and relevant local preservation ordinances. The grant program includes significant compliance and preservation covenant requirements tied to the use of federal historic preservation funding. Projects must comply with OMB regulations under 2 CFR 200, Section 106 and Section 110f review requirements under the National Historic Preservation Act, and the National Environmental Policy Act. Grant recipients are required to enter into preservation covenants recorded with the property deed to ensure long-term stewardship of funded properties. Grants of $50,000 or less require a five-year covenant period, while grants between $50,001 and $100,000 require a ten-year covenant period. Properties already subject to qualifying preservation easements or covenants may require amendments extending the protection period. In addition, all funded projects must comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, and the Architectural Barriers Act where applicable. The program requires a minimum 25% nonfederal match contribution, which may consist of cash or documented in-kind contributions such as contractor labor, volunteer labor, and donated materials. PAWV provides an example in which a $100,000 total project would require a $75,000 funding request and a $25,000 nonfederal match. Volunteer labor may be counted using a stated in-kind rate of $29.13 per hour, while contractor in-kind labor must be documented using the contractor's standard hourly rate. Applicants are expected to demonstrate adequate financial resources to manage upfront project costs and provide supporting documentation including recent bank statements, contractor estimates prepared within the past 90 days, and project budget worksheets. Applications for the current funding cycle are due by 5:00 PM on Friday, July 31, 2026. Applications may be submitted by email to info@pawv.org, while mailed applications are permitted only with prior coordination with PAWV staff. Required submission materials include a completed and signed application form, three letters of support, five to ten recent photographs of the project site, financial documentation, a completed budget worksheet, contractor estimates, and where applicable, architectural drawings or engineering plans. Following submission, applications will be reviewed and scored by the PAWV Grant Review Committee, with recommendations forwarded to the PAWV Board of Directors during an August board meeting. Final award approval must be made by the National Park Service. PAWV anticipates announcing awards by October 2026, followed by site visits, procurement processes, federal review procedures, and project approvals. Physical preservation work is expected to begin in early 2027 depending on weather conditions and completion of federal compliance reviews. Questions regarding the program may be directed to info@pawv.org or by phone at 304-345-6005 or 304-642-0693.

Projects that demonstrate construction readiness strong local support and clear cultural heritage tourism impact may receive priority consideration. Applicants should provide detailed contractor estimates and document nonfederal matching contributions carefully including in-kind labor and donated materials.