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The Selma & Marion Historic Revitalization Grant Program

Overview

In late 2022, Opportunity Alabama (OPAL) was awarded funding from the Paul Bruhn Historic Revitalization Grants Program, funded by the Historic Preservation Fund, administered by the National Park Service, Department of Interior. The Paul Bruhn Historic Revitalization Grant Program fosters economic development in rural communities through the rehabilitation and protection of historic properties. 

With this grant funding, OPAL will administer a competitive subgrant program for catalytic projects to repair and restore historic structures in Selma and Marion, two rural Black Belt communities that were critical sites in the modern voting rights movement. Grant funding is intended for brick and mortar projects that will create new economic activity and permanent jobs. This grant funding will not be awarded to projects that have previously received grant funding from the National Park Service. 

OPAL is now accepting Letters of Interest for grants to cover costs associated with commercial, mixed-use, or multi-family redevelopment projects that will bring new commercial, office space, retail space, or residential units to qualifying historic downtown districts (see eligible applicants, below). Applicants should be property owners or development teams capable of demonstrating a direct pathway to site control of a downtown historic building.

Application Process

Letters of Interest were due November 15, 2023 at 5pm CT. We are no longer accepting Letters of Interest from potential applicants. We are currently reviewing LOIs and will directly contact any applicant who is selected to submit a Full Application.

INSTRUCTIONS

Notice of Funding

STEP 1

Letter of Interest
CLOSED

Some applicants will be invited to submit a full application based on the strength of the LOI.

**Please use Adobe Acrobat to complete these forms as other software may cause formatting errors. If you have issues filling out this form, contact us directly at [email protected].

STEP 2

Full Application
Budget Template

Eligibility & Resources

To verify eligibility, your property must be a contributing building in 1 of 3 districts below.

  • Old Town Historic District (Selma, AL)
  • Water Avenue Historic District (Selma, AL)
  • Marion Courthouse Square Historic District (Marion, AL)

For further information about the districts visit the Alabama Historic Commission (AHC) – Historic Preservation Map.

Presentation on the Selma & Marion Historic Revitalization Grant Program

Questions

If you have questions after reading through all documentation, please contact the program coordinators.