Minnesota Historical and Cultural Grants

FY 2011 Mid and Large Grant Deadline
Grants office staff reviews and responses to the pre-applications submitted on March 8 for the Mid-Size and Large grant cycle are all in the mail. Final applications are due on Monday April 12, 2010.

The questions that troubled applicants the most were Need & Rationale, Evaluation, and Enduring Value & Sustainability. The first of these three was the single greatest expectation from those that attended statewide input meetings. Projects need clear need and rationale.

The legislature's appropriation language required projects to be evaluated with measureable outcomes. And, throughout debate on the use of legacy funds, legislators wanted to make sure that projects could be handed down to succeeding generations without obligating the state to unsustainable funding.

See the training slideshow on Writing a Better Application to the Minnesota Historical & Cultural Grants Program. The slideshow provides tips on how to address these three critical questions.

Warm wishes for successful projects!

From the Blog

Reconciling Modern Users with History (new post) - Does the modern historical organization look more like an iPad than a 1940s industrial model? How should a historical organization adapt to modern expectations?

LED Lighting and Museums (new post) - Be cautious when considering switching your museum lighting to LED.

Website Redesing Using Wordpress as CMS (1 new comment) - Wordpress can be slow, but only if there are too many plug-ins. Read about Mary Warner's experience.

Do History Here

Podcast on Sinclair Lews collection
TODAY! Tom Steman and Marian Rengel talk about the Sincliar Lewis collection at the St. Cloud State University Archives and the partnership with the MN Digital Library project via podcast (Episode 511). Recently, the two organizations completed a project to digitize a collection of 262 personal letters and one poem between Sinclair Lewis and his mistress, Marcella Powers. This collection is now available on MN Reflections.

Uncle Sam Worked Here Panel Discussion
Join a distinguished panel that will provide insight into the effort to preserve the Old Federal Courthouse in St. Paul. Landmark Center, Courtroom 317, April 10, 2010, 10:45 a.m.

Centuries of Progress Family Day
Bring the family to Stearns History Museum to learn about modern medical advances and tour CentraCare’s Live Link III Helicopter on Sunday, April 11, 2010 from 1 to 3 p.m. Julie Bunkowski, a clinical resource registered nurse from St. Cloud Hospital, will speak at 2 p.m. about the history of incubators and their appearance at the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair “Centuries of Progress.” Refreshments provided. Admission $5 adults, $2 children ages 5-17, children under 5 and members free. Contact Charlene Akers at (320) 253-8424 for more information.

Job Opportunities

Facility Supervisor
Minnesota Historical Society seeks full time Facility Supervisor. Applications are due April 9, 2010.

Exhibit Developer
Science Museum of Minnesota seeks a full time Exhibit Developer. Applications are due April 14, 2010.

Continuing Education

Area Museum Meeting
Kandiyohi County Historical Society in Willmar hosts the spring Area Museum Meeting on Monday April 19, 2010, 10 a.m. RSVP to Jill Wohnoutka by April 15, 2010.

Adding Your Historical Content to Well-Trafficked Websites
Joe Hoover of the Minnesota Historical Society presents this "MHS Spring Seminar" on Thursday April 22, 2010, 1 p.m. at the St. Louis County Historical Society in Duluth, hosted by the Twin Ports History Coalition. Free, but RSVP by April 18.

News

Minnesota Legislature Passes Historic Tax Credit
Minnesota will become the 31^st state in the nation to offer a tax-based incentive for rehabilitation of historic structures. The tax credit measure, which is part of a larger job creation package, passed the Legislature on March 29, 2010, and is expected to be signed by the Governor later in the week.

The tax credit provision offers a 20% state tax credit for qualified historic rehabilitations and parallels the existing federal credit. The provision also offers project investors an option of a grant in lieu of a credit, whichever option best suits a developer’s tax situation, in order to maximize the efficiency of the public dollars assisting the project. The program is effective for projects that sign construction contracts after May 1, 2010 and requires an application with the State Historic Preservation Office before project work begins.  

The Minnesota State Historic Preservation Office will begin planning implementation of the program, including application materials and processes, as soon as the bill is signed.

The full text of the legislation can be found at https://www.revisor.mn.gov/laws/?id=216&year=2010&type=0. NOTE: The historic preservation tax credit provisions are in sections 11 and 17, beginning approximately one-third of the way into the bill.

Field Note