Main Street Arkansas Update - December 17, 2007

December 17 - 21, 2007

Monday
Tuesday Caroline, Harrison
Wednesday
Thursday Mark - out
Friday Mark & Greg - out


Bethany Hanna has resigned as executive director of Main Street Texarkana. We wish her well in her future endeavors.

Downtown/Main Street Rogers is featured in the latest issue of UrbanLand Magazine, a publication of the Urban Land Institute (ULI) – member web access only at:

http://www.uli.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Current_Issue&template=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=110938

IN THIS ISSUE:
******************************************************************************
University Area Gears Up for Change

Tourism Map of the Arkansas Delta (RHDI/ADB project) published

WM Carriage Rides

HGTV Opportunity for Central Arkansas

Parking Garage Design Article

8 Grant Opportunities
*********************************************************************************


University Area Gears Up for Change

http://arkansasbusiness.com/printable.asp?aid=101290

Tourism Map of the Arkansas Delta (RHDI/ADB project) published

http://www.helena-arkansas.com/articles/2007/12/12/news/news1.txt

If you’re in West Memphis in the coming weeks, consider taking a carriage ride offered by the WM A&P. Call 870.514.6340 for more details

HGTV’s If Walls Could Talk Coming to Little Rock
If Walls Could Talk, the weekly series, Sundays on HGTV, is coming to Central Arkansas in January to film homes with intriguing pasts and unusual stories. Now in production on its ninth season, the series kicks off with new homeowners who make surprising historical discoveries about their homes as they explore and restore them. A lucky few will be amazed to learn that the historic artifacts they’ve discovered are worth a fortune when the If Walls Could Talk appraiser drops by for a look.

Each half-hour episode features homeowners from across the country who share their amazing discoveries.

If Walls Could Talk is produced for HGTV by High Noon Entertainment in Denver . Homeowners who would like to be considered for the program should contact Jason Mercado at 303.712.3109 or email at jmercado@highnoonentertainment.com. He hopes to speak with homeowners immediately.

Garage Mahals: Architects turn their attention to the problem of parking.
http://www.slate.com/id/2179373/

Grant Opportunities


Thanks to Kathy LaPlante of the NTMSC for this one

Verizon Foundation

Does Verizon provide cell phone service in your community?

If so, check out their foundation site at: http://foundation.verizon.com/02008.shtml


Community Food Projects Competitive Grants Program
http://www.csrees.usda.gov/fo/communityfoodprojects.cfm

Community Food Projects should be designed to (1): (A) meet the food needs of low-income people; (B) increase the self-reliance of communities in providing for their own food needs; and (C) promote comprehensive responses to local food, farm, and nutrition issues; and/or (2) meet specific state, local, or neighborhood food and agriculture needs for (A) infrastructure improvement and development; (B) planning for long-term solutions; or (C) the creation of innovative marketing activities that mutually benefit agricultural producers and low-income consumers


National Archives and Records Administration Professional Development Grants for Archives and Historical Publishing Grant

http://www07.grants.gov/search/search.do?mode=VIEW&oppId=40162


National Archives and Records Administration Publishing Historical Records-Founding Era Grant

http://www07.grants.gov/search/search.do?mode=VIEW&oppId=40164

National Archives and Records Administration Strategies and Tools for Archives and Historical Publishing Projects Grant

http://www07.grants.gov/search/search.do?mode=VIEW&oppId=40169

National Archives and Records Administration Digitizing Historical Records Grant

http://www07.grants.gov/search/search.do?mode=VIEW&oppId=40177

National Archives and Records Administration Electronic Records Projects Grant

http://www07.grants.gov/search/search.do?mode=VIEW&oppId=40178

MacArthur Foundation Announces Awards Program for Public Sector Housing Preservation Leaders

Deadline: January 29, 2008 (Letters of Interest)

Through its awards for State and Local Housing Preservation Leaders, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation (http://www.macfound.org/ ) intends to provide $35 million in total new funding for innovative public-sector initiatives designed to preserve and improve the existing stock of privately owned affordable rental homes across the United States.

These new awards are part of the foundation's expanded commitment to Window of Opportunity (http://windowofopportunity.macfound.org/ ), a national initiative dedicated to the preservation and improvement of affordable rental homes.

The foundation expects to select up to ten states and localities to receive awards in 2008. These awards are likely to include grants and/or program-related investments ranging from $250,000 to a maximum of $5 million. All funds must be used to design, demonstrate, or scale up a significant preservation initiative.

Only the following entities can apply for funding through these awards: city, county, or state governmental body, or a formal collaboration among several governmental units operating in a common geographic region. The applicant should oversee key sources of funding and subsidy for developers and owners of affordable rental housing, including but not limited to Community Development Block Grants, local affordable housing trust funds, and proceeds from tax increment financing districts.

State agencies applying for these awards should be responsible for allocating Low Income Housing Tax Credits and private activity bonds, in addition to major state-funded resources for affordable housing. In general, public housing authorities will not be eligible.

Visit the foundation's Web site for complete program guidelines and instructions for submitting a Letter of Interest.