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Historic preservation office awarded $25,000 America250 grant; seeks CLG grant to survey fairgrounds
Summary
Kootenai County Historic Preservation received a $25,000 America250 award to fund a courthouse photographic exhibit and a countywide historic‑marker network; staff also plan a $8,000 CLG reconnaissance survey of the fairgrounds with a 50% match.
Courtney (Historic Preservation) told commissioners on Jan. 7 that Kootenai County received $25,000 from the America250 program to support two projects: a photographic exhibit for the county courthouse centennial in 2026 and a Historic Preservation Network of nine markers tied to local museums across the county.
"The grant will go to two projects," Courtney said, identifying the first as a photographic exhibit to mark the courthouse's 100th anniversary and the second as a set of historic markers with QR codes placed at nine locations, accompanied by a tourism brochure funded with county budget dollars. Courtney said volunteer historians will select photographs and contractors will be paid to produce the exhibit; county staff time will be limited to hanging and coordination.
Courtney said the America250 award requires a 10% local match and that invoices and volunteer hours will be submitted to the auditor per county procedure. The county will route any grant agreement through legal and the auditor for review before acceptance.
Separately, the Kootenai County Historic Preservation Commission plans to apply for a Certified Local Government (CLG) grant from the State Historic Preservation Office and the National Park Service to fund a reconnaissance survey of buildings at the county fairgrounds. Courtney described the fairgrounds as a patchwork of moved and changed structures whose historic significance is not well documented. The CLG grant would be $8,000 with a 50% match composed of volunteer hours from the Historic Preservation Commission, the Fair Board, Museum of North Idaho volunteers and others. The county would contract for the survey work and use the final report to inform any future decisions about preservation or redevelopment at the fairgrounds.
Commissioners asked procedural questions about audit reporting and the grant timeline; Courtney said the CLG application is due Jan. 31 and the America250 agreement will be presented for approval in coming weeks after legal review.
