An application deadline of March 18 has been announced for a New Mexico program funding historical renovation and preservation projects across the state.
The Cultural Properties Restoration Fund Grant Program offers grants of anywhere from $5,000 to $250,000 for projects focused on restoration and stabilization efforts, as well as both architectural and archaeological surveys.
Eligible applicants for the funding include cities, villages, towns, counties, and acequia commissions, among other entities, all centering on projects that must first be listed with the National Register of Historic Places or the New Mexico Register of Cultural Properties.
Recent recipients of CPRF funding have included the City of Deming which last summer received $20,000 for a preservation plan to keep intact the nearly 110-year-old Luna Mimbres Museum.
That brick facility, located at 301 S. Silver Avenue, once housed a National Guard Armory built to train soldiers guarding the U.S./Mexican border during the Mexican Revolution.
Exactly $250,000 was also approved to fund window, door, and interior wall restoration work in the Silver City Water Works Building, which was built in 1887 and is regarded as the last surviving 19th century stone building in the city.
Funding for the CPRF initiative comes through the larger Land of Enchantment Legacy Fund, which was officially approved two years ago by Democrat Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham.
In announcing the current round of CPRF funding, Michelle Ensey, State Historic Preservation Officer, noted that the program in its essence “offers the chance to preserve New Mexico’s cultural heritage for future generations to enjoy.”
A total of $1 million in funding is available for projects in the current cycle.
February 27, 2025
By Garry Boulard
Photo courtesy of Deming Luna Mimbres Museum
