Carmel is home to two National Register of Historic Places listings, and the Carmel Historic Preservation Commission is offering a grant program to encourage more property owners to apply.
“We feel like more (homes and districts) should be honored and show the historic nature of the city. An important way to illustrate that would be to have more homes designated at the federal level, and the grant program would hopefully help people achieve that,” said Alex Brooks, community preservation specialist with Indiana Landmarks, an organization assisting CHPC with the grant initiative.
CHPC recently sent a letter to properties with high potential for national register designation.
“Eligibility is determined by significance to American history, architecture, archaeology, engineering, or culture,” the letter stated.
Based on the results of a 2014 Carmel historic architecture survey listing the historical significance of 1,600 properties, only properties identified as notable or outstanding received a letter.
Currently, the John Kinzer House, 1032 E. Main St., and the Thornhurst Historic District (21 homes designed by Carmel architect Avriel Shull) are the only Carmel listings on the national register.
“It’s a largely honorific designation,” Brooks said. “It doesn’t have any legal entanglements to it about what you can or can’t do to a property or district. But the thing is that if you’re on your national register, then potentially a house or district is on the same list as the Indy Motor Speedway, the Empire State Building, Independence Hall, places like that.”
The process begins at the state level, Brooks said, and grant funds will help property owners hire third-party national register nomination consultants approved through the Indiana Division of historic preservation and archeology. Although the process for federal historic designation can take several years, Brooks encourages the Carmel community to consider starting the process if their homes are eligible.
The CHPC is offering grants up to $5,000 for individual properties and $10,000 for potential historic districts.
For more, contact Alex Brooks [email protected] or visit carmel.in.gov.
