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Pierce County amends historic preservation grants, removes $4,550 for prayer-rug art project
Summary
The council approved R2026-105 to distribute historic preservation grant funds from a document-fee surcharge; a substantive amendment removed a $4,550 award to the Pacific Northwest Prayer Rug project and council directed a review of grant criteria.
The Pierce County Council on March 10 approved resolution R2026-105 to distribute historic preservation grant funding, but adopted a substantive amendment removing a $4,550 award to the Pacific Northwest Prayer Rug project.
Planning and Public Works staff presented the program and funding context: Matthew Swanson said the grants are paid from a $1 portion of a $5 per-instrument surcharge. He told the council the preservation fund is budgeted at roughly $399,350 for the 2026–27 biennium; 28 applications requested a combined $478,054 but only $80,000 was available for this cycle and the Landmarks and Historic Preservation Commission recommended partial funding for 15 projects.
Council member Morel moved Amendment 2, which staff described as removing the Pacific Northwest Prayer Rug appropriation and reducing the cycle total from $80,000 to $75,450 and the number of approved grants from 15 to 14. "In my research, I feel this doesn't qualify for a historical preservation grant," Morel said, arguing the submission looked like an art project and the applicant was based outside Pierce County. Krueger and other colleagues supported revisiting the code to clarify evaluation criteria.
Council member Ayala, who sponsored a technical Amendment 1 that corrected district listings in Exhibit A, said she found the application "amazing" and worthy of support but agreed the county must tighten code language governing eligibility. Several council members urged a future code amendment to ensure grant scoring aligns with Pierce County history priorities.
A member of the public, Jean Castanti of the Historic Livonian Hollow Foundation, spoke to the Slab Hall preservation application, giving details about the 118‑year‑old, two‑story structure and an asbestos tile issue in a west wall. She submitted a handout and answered council staff questions during public comment.
The clerk recorded the final roll call: 7 ayes, 0 nays. With that tally, R2026-105 was adopted as amended.
What happens next: Council members agreed to pursue clarifying language in the county code so the Landmarks and Historic Preservation Commission has clearer criteria when scoring future applications.
