Preserving the district
Ozark still has its square because owners kept repairing buildings that would have been easier to let go. These repairs require capital and we’re here to help building owners find it, understand the processes to apply for it, and hopefully, to win it.
Funding Sources
The City of Ozark has a grant program for historic buildings downtown called HERO, and it can put up to $75,000 toward a single property. You cover half and the city covers the other half, dollar for dollar. Because it works as a reimbursement, you pay your contractor first and the city pays you back once the work is finished and inspected.
HERO Program (City of Ozark)
Applications are taken year-round and reviewed first-come out of whatever the city budgets for the year, which means early in the year is a better bet than late. Priority goes to projects that can start right away, buildings that are deteriorating or unsafe, and contributing structures inside the overlay district.
HERO is administered by City Planning and Development rather than by us. What we do is help owners work out whether a project qualifies and get the application together.
Roofs, foundations and structural work. Tuckpointing and masonry repair. Window and door repair, or in-kind replacement. Exterior painting, awnings, signage and lighting. HVAC, electrical and plumbing. Outdoor seating, paving and accessibility work. Even the cost of a structural assessment.
What it Covers
What it Doesn’t
New construction, single-family homes, your own labor, tools, inventory, or anything you started before the award.
Historic Tax Credits (State & Federal)
If you’re taking on a substantial rehabilitation rather than a repair, historic tax credits are usually the largest single source available, and they work differently from a grant. Rather than reimbursing you, they reduce what you owe, and they are claimed against a qualifying project after the work is approved and completed.
Paul Bruhn Historic Revitalization Subgrants (National Park Service)
Federal money for exterior rehabilitation of historic buildings in rural communities, administered in Missouri by Missouri Main Street Connection. The match is unusually low at ten percent cash, which makes it one of the more accessible programs on this list when a round is open.
Historic Preservation Fund Grants (Missouri SHPO)
State-administered federal money for identifying and protecting historic properties, and as of recent cycles it can fund construction on National Register buildings. Awards are generally capped at $50,000 on a sixty-forty match, with roughly $400,000 available statewide in a given yea
Everything Else
Those four come up most often, though they’re not the only money available. Regional foundations fund preservation work, and some utilities and larger employers run community funds that downtown projects can apply to. The state puts out initiatives from time to time as well. Most of these run on their own schedules, and some open and close quickly without much notice, which makes them easy to miss if you aren’t watching for them.
We keep track of what’s open now and what’s coming up. If you’re planning work, get in touch and tell us what you have in mind.