Louisville plans to use a new $50,000 grant announced Thursday to survey the Chickasaw neighborhood and add it to the National Register of Historic Places.
The grant is part of the national register’s Underrepresented Community Grant program, which aims to diversify nominations to the registry. Money will be used to pay a consultant, who will survey the historically African-American neighborhood and make a case for why it should be a historical district. City Planning and Design Coordinator Savannah Darr said they chose Chickasaw because of the neighborhood’s history and the potential benefits for residents.
“We knew that this was an important historic neighborhood that has not been surveyed, and has not been listed on the national register,” Darr said. “I think that the building stock is there, I think that the historical significance is there […] So I feel with this information, we have a very strong case.”
Chickasaw becoming a historic district means homeowners and businesses could get state and federal tax credits, but those credits only apply to businesses or for people spending at least $20,000 on property rehabilitation. There is no start date for the survey, but the city expects it will take two years to complete the survey and application. The first community meeting on the project is scheduled for noon on November 16, at the Catholic Enrichment Center.
