Recently, the National Park Service (NPS) announced $1.2 million in Underrepresented Community Grants for 21 projects in 16 states and Washington D.C. Atlantic City was the only city in New Jersey to be awarded a grant. The $50,000 grant will fund the National Register nominations of two firehouses.
The two firehouses are the Grant and Indiana Fire Station, which was built in 1909, and the Atlantic and Annapolis Fire Station, built in 1907. The project involves retaining qualified historic architects to prepare nominations for the National Register. Once these buildings are on the National Register, they then qualify for funding for improvements.
“This grant is part of a concerted effort to restore the beautiful firehouses in our city and to preserve our history,” said Mayor Marty Small, Sr.
Only Certified Local Governments qualified for this grant program, a designation that Atlantic City earned in 2020. The city also recently established the Atlantic City Historic Preservation Commission in order to promote preservation within the city.
Atlantic City has eight sites on New Jersey’s Register of Historic Places, with 24 additional buildings that have been deemed eligible for inclusion.
In 2022, Atlantic City was awarded a $500,000 African American Civil Rights grant to preserve the firehouse at the corner of Indiana and Baltic Avenues in the Northside Institutional Historic District. A $750,000 grant was also awarded by the New Jersey Historic Trust for that firehouse. Restoration is planned for 2023.
