The Façade Restoration Program provides single-family homeowners with grants of up to $5,000 to return the front exterior of their properties to their original historic charm. Since the program's inception in 1995, almost 80 façades have been returned to their near-original appearance. This can best be seen in the 300 and 400 blocks of North 8th Street. Additional facade restorations can be seen elsewhere throughout the District.
The grant is awarded in the form of a lien placed on the property. Each year the homeowner stays in the property, twenty per cent of the loan amount is forgiven, so that after five years no money needs to be paid back. Old Allentown works with the homeowner to get estimates for the work and to oversee the work as it progresses. Old Allentown will also assist the homeowner in planning the restoration project and will accompany the homeowner to the Historical and Architectural Review Board to gain the required approval of the proposed work.
Owner-occupied single-family homes are eligible for OAPA's façade grant program. The grants, which range up to $5000, are for the purpose of restoring a home's façade to the appearance appropriate to the era of its construction. The grants typically fund such projects as the removal of aluminum siding or brickcote, the installation of appropriate shutters and doors, the replacement of concrete porches with brick or wooden stoops. Façade grants do not fund the maintenance or upgrading of an already restored façade. For example, such things as painting, brick repointing, or roof replacement on a facade already restored to its appropriate period appearance are not included in the program. Similarly, the upgrading of existing appropriate façade features such as doors, windows, and shutters will not be funded with façade grants.
In years when the applications for façade grants exceed the available funds, the façade committee may use its discretion to award grants to those projects that it deems will have the greatest impact on historic preservation in Old Allentown.
To see whether your property might qualify for a Façade Restoration Grant or to request a grant application, contact Old Allentown at oldallentown@enter.net.