Main Street Arkansas Update - November 24, 2008

DATES TO REMEMBER:

DECEMBER 31, 2008: LETTER OF AGREEMENT DUE (Main Street Towns)
JANUARY 20-21: QUARTERLY TRAINING, LITTLE ROCK
MARCH 1-4 : NATIONAL MAIN STREETS CONFERENCE, CHICAGO, IL
MARCH 15-17: GOVERNOR’S CONFERENCE ON TOURISM, FORT SMITH
MAY 14-16 : ARKANSAS PRESERVATION CONFERENCE, EUREKA SPRINGS
SEPTEMBER 14-16: DESTINATION DOWNTOWN, EL DORADO


Main Street Arkansas Calendar November 24 - 28, 2008

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MONDAY Nancy, Russellville
TUESDAY Caroline, Mark, Greg – annual leave
WEDNESDAY Cary, Caroline, Mark – annual leave
THURSDAY closed - Thanksgiving
FRIDAY closed - Thanksgiving
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IN THIS ISSUE:
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Preservation Today TV
Follow-Up From the Recent NTHP Conference
Texarkana Press
Cy Sutherland’s Passing
Lawmakers Propose Grant Program for Scenic Trails, Improvement Districts
AHPP Grant Workshop
Preserve America News
Main Street Center Update
Is the Mall Dead?
3 Grant Opportunities
Community Development Workshop
2008 Arkansas Small Business Profile
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Preservation Today TV

Preservation Today is dedicated to inspiring connections to heritage values through new media. Visit our shownotes site at www.preservationtoday.com
http://www.preservationtoday.blip.tv/

Follow-Up From the Recent National Trust Conference
 You can listen to the plenary talks and special lectures from Tulsa online. Visit http://www.preservationnation.org/resources/training/npc/featured-speakers/ to hear what you missed, or hear again what you loved.
 There are more than 40 handouts from sessions now available online, and more are being added daily. Visit http://www.preservationnation.org/resources/training/npc/additional-resources/session-handouts-tulsa/ to download the ones you want to have.
 Session proposal submission is open for the National Preservation Conference in Nashville, Tennessee, October 13 - 17, 2009. For more information, or to submit a proposal for a session, visit http://www.eshow2000.com/nthp/2009/

Texarkana Press:
http://www.texarkanagazette.com/news/localnews/2008/11/19/revitalization-funds-available-for-arkan-96.php

Cyrus Sutherland, Professor Emeritus of Architecture and Preservationist, Dies at 88
http://arkansasbusiness.com/printable.asp?aid=109951

Lawmakers propose grant program for scenic trails, improvement districts
http://www.arkansasnews.com/archive/2008/11/20/News/349142.html

If your program or town is interested in an HPRG grant, you should plan on attending
AHPP OFFERS FREE GRANT-WRITING WORKSHOP JANUARY 13


The Arkansas Historic Preservation Program will hold a grant-writing workshop from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Tuesday, January 13, 2009, at the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center at 501 W. 9th St. in Little Rock for people interested in applying for the agency’s County Courthouse Restoration of Historic Preservation Restoration grant programs, AHPP Director Frances McSwain announced today.
Admission is free, but reservations must be made by Tuesday, January 6, by calling Joia Burton at (501) 324-9883 or sending e-mail to joia@arkansasheritage.org .
The AHPP’s grant programs to be covered in the workshop are:
• County Courthouse Restoration Subgrants, which are financed through Real Estate Transfer Tax funds distributed by the Arkansas Natural and Cultural Resources Council for rehabilitation of historic county courthouses across Arkansas
• Historic Preservation Restoration Grants, which distribute funds raised through the Real Estate Transfer Tax to rehabilitate buildings that are listed on the Arkansas or National Registers of Historic Places and owned by local governments or not-for-profit organizations

PRESERVE AMERICA LEGISLATION PUT OFF UNTIL NEXT CONGRESS

The Preserve America and Save America's Treasures programs will not be authorized this Congress. The lame duck session did not provide enough time to overcome procedural objections to an omnibus public lands bill that included the legislation. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has been quoted as saying that "we're better off waiting until we come back." He said the bill would be taken up in January when the Senate returns.

Tom Coburn (R-OK), the bill's primary opponent, threatened a filibuster -- reading the bill in its entirety to delay or prevent action. According to Senator Reid, the bill would take 24 hours or more to read in full.

The authorizing legislation, originally H.R. 3981/S.2262 had significant bipartisan support. 58 Representatives and 8 Senators cosponsored the bill prior to its being folded into the lands omnibus.

Share your Promotion Success Stories!
Every downtown markets itself but why are some campaigns more successful. How do you maximize promotion dollars on untested ideas? We'd like to hear your most successful promotions to share in next month's issue of the member e-Update.
Respond to our survey here.

Featured Benefit - Secure Online Contribution Pages
Make it easier for your constituents to support your organization. With secure online contribution pages donors can contribute to your organization from the comfort of their home or office. The National Trust can host contribution pages on our secure website and you can link to our secure online contribution pages through your web page free of charge.
Contact mainstreet@nthp.org for more information.

Is the Mall Dead?
http://www.newsweek.com/id/168753

Seed Money for Community News Ventures
New Voices
New Voices, administered by J-Lab and supported by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, is a pioneering program to seed innovative community news ventures in the United States. Projects can produce news and information for a geographic area such as a small town, city, county, state, or region, or they can serve a community of interest. Funding is available for print or electronic news initiatives, including online, cable, broadcast, narrowcast, satellite, and mobile efforts. Grantees will receive $17,000 the first year and may apply for $8,000 in matching funds in the second year. Nonprofit organizations and education institutions, including public broadcasters, independent media, and colleges and universities, are eligible to apply. Of the eight projects to be funded in 2009, at least three grants are targeted for news initiatives in Knight Foundation communities. Applications must be submitted by February 12, 2009. Visit the New Voices website to review the 2009 Request for Proposals.

NEH’s America’s Historical and Cultural Organizations Implementation Grants Grant
http://www07.grants.gov/search/search.do?&mode=VIEW&flag2006=false&oppId=43391

America’s Historical and Cultural Organizations implementation grants support traveling or long-term museum exhibitions, library-based projects, interpretation of historic places or areas, interpretive Web sites, or other project formats that creatively engage audiences in exploring humanities ideas and questions. Applications for panel exhibitions are accepted only from organizations other than museums, such as libraries or library systems.

America's Historical and Cultural Organizations Planning Grants http://www07.grants.gov/search/search.do?&mode=VIEW&flag2006=false&oppId=43390

Dec. 11, 2008 | 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
Achieving Extraordinary Results in Ordinary Communities
The Peabody Little Rock Hotel
3 Statehouse Plaza
Little Rock, AR 72201
In communities across the country, ordinary people are doing extraordinary things in community development, often because of one enthusiastic person who steps up to make things happen. These leaders have the ability to galvanize others to accomplish solutions to problems and to move their communities forward.
Vaughn Grisham, director of the McLean Institute for Community Development and a professor of sociology at the University of Mississippi, has studied the dynamics of these communities. In this event sponsored by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, he will discuss what he has learned and the tools communities need to create positive change from within. Grisham’s delightful storytelling ability will bring community development best practices to life for the audience.
A reception will follow Grisham’s talk.
Register online by Dec. 5. You may also register by calling Julie Kerr at 501-324-8296 or by sending her an e-mail at julie.a.kerr@stls.frb.org.

2008 Arkansas Small Business Profile
http://www.sba.gov/advo/research/profiles/08ar.pdf

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