WA State Heritage Barn Nominations Due April 3rd!

Excerpts from the WA State Dept of Archaeology & Historic Preservation. Full text can be found here.

Heritage Barn Register

Created with the passage of Substitute HB 2115 in May of 2007, the Washington Heritage Barn Register commemorates barns as historically significant resources representing the agricultural, economic and cultural development of the State of Washington.

“Barns are a symbol of Washington’s agricultural heritage and are beautiful buildings in their own right,” said Governor Chris Gregoire. “The Heritage Barn register will support the efforts of the Washingtonians who own these barns to preserve and stabilize these icons of our history.”

In addition to creating the Heritage Barn Register, the Heritage Barn Preservation Initiative (HB 2115) provided for:

* Competitive matching grants to heritage barn owners throughout the state to support their efforts to preserve, stabilize and rehabilitate their barns; and
* Established the Heritage Barn Advisory Committee to review grant applications and examine tax incentives and land use regulations that support barn preservation and use.

To be eligible for listing in the new Heritage Barn Register, barns must be over 50 years old and retain a significant degree of historic and architectural integrity. Owners interested in seeking designation for their historic barns are asked to complete a nomination form and provide basic information about the property.

The fifth round of Heritage Barn nominations are due April 3, 2009. Those barns will be considered for designation at the May 2009 meeting of the Governor's Advisory Council meeting and will be eligible to apply for the grant program (when money become available). Subsequent nominations will be reviewed at proceeding ACHP meetings.

Listing on the Heritage Barn Register is strictly honorary in nature and offers no protection from demolition, nor requires review of alterations and/or changes in use. Only barns listed on the new Heritage Barn Register, or barns that have been previously listed on the State or National Register will be eligible for grant funding under HB 2115.