Past News and Annoucements
See
below for
Past Press Releases.
DHR Official Survey Manual (PDF). The
newly revised (October
2011) version of the Survey Manual, officially known as "Guidelines for Conducting Historic Resources Survey in Virginia,"
is now available.
(Chapters 6 and 7 of the manual, which are devoted to archaeological survey, were previously released in 2009.)
Thanks to those who submitted comments on a prior draft of the
manual earlier this year.
For Owners and Managers
of Historic Buildings in Virginia: If you have an historic home, commercial
building, or other historic property that was damaged by the
August earthquake or Hurricane Irene,
please know that the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, the historic
preservation agency for the Commonwealth, is available to assist you.
(
See more. . .)
Henrietta Lacks Historical Marker Dedicated:
On July 29, DHR dedicated a new
historical highway marker honoring
Henrietta Lacks, an African-American woman whose legacy to medical
science was the first line of “immortal” human cells.
The marker is located near Lacks' childhood home in Clover, a rural community in Halifax County.
See this
article about the dedication ceremony from the
Gazette Virginian.
Here is the earlier DHR
press release
announcing the dedication.
Civil War Battlefield
State-Matching Grants Now Available:
The Virginia Department of Historic Resources
is pleased to announce the availability of 2011-2012 funds for projects that provide permanent protection
for Civil War battlefield lands in Virginia that are listed in the “Report on the Nation’s Civil War Battlefields.”
Projects will be evaluated based on significance of the battlefield, threat, integrity, financial and
administrative capacity of the applicant, and plans for future management for preservation and public
benefit among other criteria. All grant awards require a 50-percent match using private or federal funds.
The deadline for grant
applications has now passed (it was COB July 29, 2011). Please Note: Based on recent guidance, the provision allowing awards to prior
projects has been reinstated and the application forms and criteria revised accordingly. Either version of the
application will be accepted for projects that will close after the date of the award.
Please see this
grant
announcement and criteria as well as this application
(PDF or
Word
format) for more information.
Stewardship Report
Biennial Report on the Stewardship of State-Owned Property, May 1 2011
: In 2006, the General Assembly
passed legislation that calls for DHR to develop two biennial reports, with the option that
they might be combined, on the stewardship of state-owned properties. The 2011 report,
which runs to 57-pages in length and includes several appendices, is
now available for review. This
PDF of the report is 3-plus megabytes.
Updated:
Virginia Atlas of Archaeology:
We have
posted an updated atlas featuring links to destinations in
Virginia that are open to the public and feature exhibits or
information related to archaeology. Visit the Virginia ArchNet
webpage or go directly to the atlas
here.
Now available. A Handbook and Resource Guide for Owners of
Virginia's Historic Houses. Authored by Camille Agricola Bowman,
an architectural historian and technical easement advisor with DHR, this
excellent and attractive publication offers valuable information on the
proper stewardship of a historic house as well as plenty of additional
places to turn for expert guidance on various restoration repairs. It's
an indispensible primer for the owner of a historic property. Loaded
with color photographs, the is 64-page book is now available from DHR
for $5 (to cover postage).
Order form.
(Updated March 2011)
Preservation pays. That is the conclusion of an economic
study, “Prosperity through Preservation,” released in January
2008 by the Department of Historic Resources. Conducted by Virginia Commonwealth
University's Center for Public Policy, in partnership with DHR, the study finds that
Virginia’s state rehabilitation tax credit program created nearly
$1.6 billion in economic impact in the Commonwealth and supported
just under 11,000 jobs since 1997. The
study determined that from 1997 through June 2007 rehabilitation
state tax credit incentives spurred private investment of nearly
$1.5 billion spent restoring more than 1,200 landmark buildings
throughout Virginia. Significantly, VCU’s analysis, based on a
survey of sponsors of rehabilitation projects, determined that of
the nearly $1.5 billion investment, a full $952 million was tied
directly to projects for which the state tax credits were identified
as an
essential
driving force. In other words, without the rehabilitation state tax
credit program, the projects would never have been undertaken.
Read the summary,
Prosperity through Preservation. (Updated: August 2008)
Past Press Releases:
2011:
2010:
2009
Updated: 4 January 2012
