Site search
sponsored by
News
Sports
ENLARGE
A look at downtown Truckee.
TRUCKEE, Calif. — Downtown Truckee has cleared its first hurdle on Friday toward becoming a nationally-recognized historic district.
The California Historical Resources Commission unanimously approved Truckee's application to include Commercial Row and part of Brickelltown in the National Register of Historic Places.
All that's left is approval by the Department of the Interior — specifically the Keeper of the National Register of Historic Places — which normally takes three to five months, said Town Planner Duane Hall,
“We're in good shape; it's been forwarded to Washington, D.C.,” he said. “We received two letters of support and no letters of dissent.”
If the historic district gets final approval, Hall said the town will get started on making sure Truckee is recognized for the designation.
“We can start referring to it as an historic district and start working with Caltrans to get signs installed on Interstate 80,” Hall said.
Historic buildings within the new district will also qualify for federal tax credits for rehabilitation work, he said.
The California Historical Resources Commission unanimously approved Truckee's application to include Commercial Row and part of Brickelltown in the National Register of Historic Places.
All that's left is approval by the Department of the Interior — specifically the Keeper of the National Register of Historic Places — which normally takes three to five months, said Town Planner Duane Hall,
“We're in good shape; it's been forwarded to Washington, D.C.,” he said. “We received two letters of support and no letters of dissent.”
If the historic district gets final approval, Hall said the town will get started on making sure Truckee is recognized for the designation.
“We can start referring to it as an historic district and start working with Caltrans to get signs installed on Interstate 80,” Hall said.
Historic buildings within the new district will also qualify for federal tax credits for rehabilitation work, he said.
Help for historic buildings
The Truckee Town Council will also consider further financial assistance to historic building owners on Thursday, Aug. 6.A staff recommendation includes three ideas to help historic buildings — a grant program to help design and engineering for historic rehabilitation, a grant program to reimburse town fees for rehabilitation of a historic building and a loan program.
“The technical assistance grant program will help where historic resources may not be in the best shape and the owner doesn't know what needs to be done,” Hall said.
The grant could cover up to 90 percent, or $5,000, to bring in an architect or engineer to come up with a plan, he said.
The loan program could give owners up to $50,000 in a low-interest loan, Hall said.
The funding for these programs would come from the town's Redevelopment Agency, with a proposed budget of $250,000 for the loans and $50,000 for the grants.
