This year, cities, state agencies, and other political subdivisions have an opportunity to receive up to $500,000 to fund historic preservation efforts on culturally significant properties.
Source: New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs
Photos: Courtesy
Santa Fe, NM – The New Mexico Historic Preservation Division is excited to announce that the Cultural Properties Restoration Fund Grant Program is now accepting applications for its third funding cycle. This year, cities, state agencies, and other political subdivisions have an opportunity to receive up to $500,000 to fund historic preservation efforts on culturally significant properties.
“Over the last two years, the Cultural Properties Restoration Fund funded a wide range of preservation projects from Taos to Deming,” said State Historic Preservation Officer Michelle Ensey. “We’re thrilled to once again administer a program that offers the chance to preserve New Mexico’s cultural heritage for future generations to enjoy.”
A restored Route 66 neon sign featured in a grant-funded documentary that won an Emmy Award
The Cultural Properties Restoration Fund (CPRF) program is part of the larger Legacy Conservation Fund, signed by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham in 2023. The Department of Cultural Affairs is one of eight departments receiving funding from the Legacy Fund, which will be administered by the New Mexico Historic Preservation Division (NMHPD) through the CPRF. The grant program enables state agencies and other political subdivisions of the state to receive up to $500,000 to fund eligible historic preservation efforts. In its first two years, fourteen projects have been contracted for a total of $2.3 million in funding. The funds support projects ranging from stabilizing the historic Fire Station building at the Albuquerque Railyards to archaeological survey and National Register nominations for a property owned by New Mexico Game & Fish.
Applications must be submitted by 5:00 p.m. Mountain Time on Thursday, July 16. The program is open to applicants like state agencies, cities, counties, acequia associations, land grant associations, and universities. Eligible properties include structures, places, sites, or objects that have historic, archaeological, scientific, architectural or other cultural significance.
Projects involving reconstruction, relocation, new construction, or acquisition of buildings are ineligible. Properties receiving funding must be listed in, or eligible for listing in, the State Register of Cultural Properties or the National Register of Historic Places. Review the CPRF requirements for listing and eligibility info in the grant manual.
No matching funds are required, but projects that demonstrate a match will be given additional points in the evaluation process. Interested applicants should visit nmhistoricpreservation.org. This year, NMHPD has updated its application materials to be fillable PDF documents and links to online CPRF application sessions that were held in February 2025 are available on the website.
Award recipients will be notified starting in late August. Fall 2026 is the anticipated start date for grant proposals in this funding cycle.
About the New Mexico Historic Preservation Division: NMHPD manages, oversees, and coordinates historic preservation activities across the state. The division educates the public about historic preservation and protects thousands of historic and archaeological sites in New Mexico. If you have ever visited an archaeological site, stopped on the side of the road to read a historic marker, or appreciated a well-maintained historic building in your community, you have likely engaged with the work of the NMHPD.
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