Texas Preservation Trust Fund Awards Grant to Old Linden Firehouse

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The Texas Historical Commission has notified the Linden Heritage Foundation that the 1939 Linden Firehouse was chosen to receive a planning grant from the Texas Preservation Trust Fund.  This grant will fund a professional preservation plan called a Historic Structure Report (HSR for short) which is a comprehensive study of the building and the recommended restoration work to be performed to keep the project in conformance with national preservation standards.

Conceptual computer-rendered image of 1939 Firehouse after restoration.
The above rendering by Lucas Allen is a preliminary idea of how the Old Firehouse could look after it is restored. At that point, the Foundation will put the building into commercial service of some kind – retail, food service, business office, etc. – allowing the historical building to become a lasting improvement to the face of Linden and a boost to the local economy..

An HSR is led by architectural professionals with preservation credentials. The architectural firm leading the Firehouse HSR will be Architexas of Dallas. The cost of the architectural work to lead the HSR is $11,200. The Foundation has already raised the necessary match funds.  Jo Anna Duncan will provide photographic services; and to top off the HSR effort the Foundation’s local research team – Kay Stephens, Gail Dorgan, and Sue Lazara – will provide the required historical documentation.

Last January, the Old Firehouse was officially determined eligible for the National Register of Historic Places, which was a prerequisite to apply for this particular Texas Preservation Trust Fund grant.  This prestigious grant award has very specific eligibility requirements, so only a finite number of Texas properties can qualify to make application.  Once the HSR is completed, the Old Firehouse will be allowed to reapply for a larger grant from the same Texas Preservation Trust Fund, toward the actual restoration work.

The award letter from Mark Wolfe, Executive Director of The Texas Historical Commission, is available for viewing as a pdf file at tptf-award-old-linden-firehouse.

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7 thoughts on “Texas Preservation Trust Fund Awards Grant to Old Linden Firehouse”

  5. Congratulations on all the hard work (thus far)! I know there is much more to come but this is a big step forward.

  6. I’m glad to see Linden finally getting the Main Street designation. During my four terms as Alderman on the Linden city council, we attempted to get Main Street, but at the time, the majority of the council felt like we couldn’t afford the salary for a Main Street Director (which is required by the program). With the marked increase in sales tax revenue (perhaps brought about by being able to keep our alcohol tax revenue inside our county and city), it is nice that Linden can now afford the salary for the director position. I’m also very pleased about the grant for the old Firehouse restoration. The future of Linden is looking much brighter. Now if we can get TXDOT to follow through with extensively repairing our practically brand new sidewalks and handrails, we’ll be looking good!

  7. Thank you Richard for the extensive outline of the history of the effort to have Linden designated as a Texas Main Street. It is also Music City Texas because of the talent of the native born individuals like you.

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