NMDCA News:
SANTA FE — The New Mexico Historic Preservation Division has announced that eight New Mexico projects – ranging from Taos to Hillsboro to Portales – have received nearly $1.2 million to fund historic restoration work through the Cultural Properties Restoration Fund.
“This statewide program enables us to support organizations working to preserve New Mexico’s cultural heritage, and we’re thrilled to see it continue to grow in its second year of funding,” State Historic Preservation Officer Michelle Ensey said.
Funding for the Cultural Properties Restoration Fund was made possible by the Land of Enchantment Legacy Fund, which was signed by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham in 2023 with additional historic investments made by the legislature in 2024. The CPRF was established in the mid-90s but had not received funding for decades; it is now one of eight state programs that receive dedicated, annual recurring dollars through the Legacy Fund. The grant program enables state agencies and other political subdivisions of the state to receive up to $250,000 to fund eligible historic preservation efforts.
This year, eight projects were selected by the New Mexico Historic Preservation Division (NMHPD)with approval from the statewide Cultural Properties Review Committee to receive just under $1.2 million. This figure marks a 20 percent uptick over the 2024 funding cycle – the program’s first – when five New Mexico projects received $1 million. Each proposal is evaluated according to its scope of work, how it meets preservation standards, the damage or threat to the property, and other factors.
The eight projects receiving funding this cycle:
- Casa San Ysidro, a historic house museum in Corrales that dates to 1875, received $250,000 to support roof replacement efforts on the museum’s north and west wings.
- The City of Albuquerque’s Special Collections Library, a John Gaw Meem-designed building that houses research collections on Albuquerque and New Mexico history and culture, received $250,000 to support a roof replacement that will stop water leaks.
- The Harwood Museum of Art in Taos, New Mexico’s second-oldest art museum, received $225,000 to support mold remediation, restoration of window sills and wall rehabilitation.
- Hillsboro Community Center in Sierra County will receive $189,300 to repair the historic building’s adobe walls, dating back to when the building served as a high school.
- The City of Santa Fe received a grant of $150,000 to support an update to the Acequia Madre listing in the New Mexico Register of Historic Places. The nomination, originally completed in 1970, would be evaluated and updated to include additional segments of the historic Santa Fe waterway.
- Salmon Ruins, an ancient Chacoan and Pueblo site and museum in San Juan County, will receive $75,000 to support stabilization efforts against erosion following a series of damaging storms.
- The National Hispanic Cultural Center will receive $46,140 in support a comprehensive preservation assessment for its History & Literary Arts Building, a restored schoolhouse built in 1937 through the federal Works Project Administration, with an eye toward preserving the historic adobe building.
- Eastern New Mexico University will receive $10,181.21 to support the stabilization and preservation of two archaeological features at the Blackwater Draw site.
Funding will be released in a lump sum through a Joint Powers Agreement. Each of these projects has a two-year completion timeframe. More information is available here.
About the New Mexico Historic Preservation Division
NMHPD manages, oversees, and coordinates historic preservation activities across the state. The division educates the public about historic preservation and protects thousands of historic and archaeological sites in New Mexico. If you have ever visited an archaeological site, stopped on the side of the road to read a historic marker, or appreciated a well-maintained historic building in your community, you have likely engaged with the work of the NMHPD.