August 28, 2005
2006 Restore America Grants
In 2006, the HGTV's Restore America will focus on the revitalization of places where people live, through grants for residential projects. Nonprofit organizations and public agencies are invited to apply. Approximately 6 to 12 grants will be awarded for projects such as rehabilitation of single family residences or adaptive use of historic buildings for housing, creation of upper-floor apartments in Main Street communities, or restoration of Save America's Treasures sites that continue to have a residential use.
HGTV's Restore America is a successful multi-million-dollar partnership between the National Trust for Historic Preservation and Home & Garden Television (HGTV) to raise awareness of the role that preservation plays in revitalizing communities. Since 2003, HGTV's Restore America has provided $3 million to fund 36 restoration projects at historic sites across the country and elevated the importance of preservation through on-air and online programming to more than 80 million HGTV viewers.
Lists of the 2003-2004 and 2004-2005 grant recipients are available on the National Trust's Restore America webpage. A brief video introduction to the series is also available.
The Far East Building at 351 East 1st Street in Los Angeles received a Restore America grant and was featured in an HGTV broadcast in August 2003.
The Far East Building stands in the heart of Little Tokyo, the historic, cultural and symbolic center of southern California's Japanese American community.
A contributing property in the Little Tokyo National Landmark Historic District, the 1909 Beaux-Arts style building is particularly well-known for the Far East Café, which was located in its ground floor storefront. Through the years, the cafe hosted innumerable important gatherings for Japanese Americans, including weddings, post-funeral gatherings, birthday parties and other milestones. It also played host to countless events for those in and around Los Angeles City Hall, which stands nearby, and it has been featured in a number of Hollywood movies, including Chinatown, Dragon, and Farewell My Lovely.
On January 8th, over 200 people celebrated the building's grand re-opening. The building was closed almost ten years ago after being severely damaged by the 1994 Northridge earthquake. The owners eventually donated the three-story structure to the Little Tokyo Services Center Community Development Corporation, which raised $3.8 million to completely renovate and rehabilitate the building according to the Secretary of the Interior's Standards. The building now houses a new Far East Café, a tribute to the original restaurant and provides 16 units of low-income affordable housing, including four units for disabled homeless individuals.
Applications for the next round of Restore America grants must be postmarked by November 30, 2005. To download the Restore America grant program guidelines and application form, visit the National Trust website or contact National Trust Grants Coordinator Nicole Vann at nicole_vann@nthp.org, or (202)-588-6197, for more information.
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