Listening rather than reading about history
Historic Preservation Commission seeks another go at a grant to create a walking tour app
Last updated 3/11/2021 at 12:06pm
CHENEY – The Historical Preservation Commission is looking to apply for a state grant to “jazz up” its walking tour brochure — jazz up in a way that some people may not even need to use it.
At its March 4 meeting, commissioner members discussed possible ideas for submitting for a Certified Local Government Grant Project from the state Department of Archeology and Historic Preservation. One idea floated as a possible redrawing of the city’s national historical district now that Cheney’s former Northern Pacific Railroad Depot has been moved out of it, while another idea involved looking at creating a special district to include the Depot and the historic Sterling-Moorman House at the corner of 2nd and G streets.
But it was a project previously suggested that eventually won out — the creation of a phone app that would contain all of the information from the city’s hard copy walking tour brochure, and a bit more. Commission administrative assistant Sue Beeman said the city has a huge amount of architectural information on its historic structures, but very little in the way of stories about the people who lived or worked in them.
“We might want to jazz up our storytelling a little bit more,” she added.
According to information from the state, the CLG program is a nationwide program of financial and technical assistance set up by the National Historic Preservation Act and administered in Washington by the Department of Archaeology & Historic Preservation. Its purpose is to help preserve historic and cultural resources “as assets for the future.”
Many governments use the funding to help identify districts or property of significant historical value for inclusion on historic registries. Funds are also used to design guidelines for “locally designated resources and historic districts,” along with developing preservation planning activities and education of property owners and residents through brochures, websites, school curriculum development and walking tours.
Beeman said the grant notice indicated the state had about $100,000 of federal pass-through money to use, with grants ranging from $5,000 – $10,000. The commission has applied for the funding in the past, including an application in 2019 for a similar app, and has been successful, receiving funding used to hold a well-attended workshop on landscaping historical properties in 2010.
Commissioner Chair Bettye Hull said attempting the walking tour app would be a good project, noting that a lot of younger people who are more comfortable with using apps on their phones than paper brochures.
“Something they could listen to while they’re looking at the building would be effective I would think,” she added.
The project would involve hiring an intern to write text that conforms to Spokane Historical Society standards. Commissioner Lee Pierce said added that one of the challenges will also be how to make the app accessible.
“The question is really where the hosting comes in,” he said. “It’s always the same problem right, we’ve got a neat product but how do we get it out there.”
Beeman also told the commission that the Cheney Depot Society’s application for another large Heritage Capital Projects grant from the Department of Archeology and Historic Preservation is on track as long as the Legislature funds the grant to its usual $10 million level. The society received a $366,000 HCP grant in August 2019, which it used to help move the depot from east of downtown to its present location.
The society has applied for a $305,000 grant, and this time its application is five slots higher on the list of importance than the previous grant. The grant requires a match of $2 from the recipient for every $1 the state gives.
“They (Depot Society) were able to do it last biennium and that grant was $366,000,” Beeman said.
She added that the program was a popular one with the Legislature in that it usually delivers the biggest return on the state’s investment. Beeman said statistics from the state indicate that Heritage Capital Projects can bring up to $32 per each visitor to the site to the community, and that for every $1 spent via the grant, $7 is returned to the communities through things such as construction and other economic outcomes.
John McCallum can be reached at jmac@cheneyfreepress.com.
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