Poland historic preservation grants top $30,000
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POLAND — It was another successful year for the Poland Village Historic Preservation Grant Program as three more residents wrap up projects on their vintage homes.
The program began in 2025 and as of this month, has paid out $30,237 to assist owners of historic homes in maintaining the look and preserving one of Poland Village's many historic gems.
"The Historical Grant program was established to help homeowners who have historic homes older than 125 years with exterior improvements," said Poland Village Councilwoman Laurie LaPlante. "We encourage them to maintain the historic appearance of their homes to match the historic character and aesthetics of the Poland Village community."
The program began after a donation of $175,000 from the sale of 9 College St. The anonymous donor wanted to offer grants that could help maintain, restore and repair historic structures in the village. The funds were moved to the Community Foundation of the Mahoning Valley, and a fund was established for the new historic grants thanks to the efforts of Charles Rumberg from the Poland Preservation Society. The village's legal counsel and the Architectural Review Board helped develop guidelines for the grants.
Last year, Poland Village Council President Michael Thompson gave some details for the program.
"The Poland Village Architectural Review Board was given the duty of accepting applications each January and must hand out at least one historic preservation grant per year," Thompson said. "We will keep doing this until the money runs out, which could take a very long time."
He said those eligible for grants must have a home that is at least 125 years old. The one-time grants of up to $5,000 can be used for exterior projects such as painting, carpentry repairs, exterior lighting, permanent landscaping, walkways, patios, fencing and architectural elements such as shutters, finials and railings.
During the first year in 2025, eight applications were sent in and reviewed by the ARB. Four were considered ineligible either because the property was a business, was not owner-occupied or the applications were not complete. The other four were approved and included a walkway, front door and side porch floor replacement; restoration of antique wood shutters; a redress of hardscapes; and removing a door and replacing it with proper siding. The total for 2025's four projects came in at $15,536.
This year's grants totaled $14,700 for three projects, which were all approved for payment at the Oct. 20 Poland Village Council meeting. The Giordano's of Poland Manor used a $5,000 grant to repair an exterior porch and the Mitzels of College Street accomplished a paint project and exterior siding repair with a $4,700 grant.
The third project was a window replacement for Laura Ciminero's North Main Street home.
"When I moved in last October, the gas bill was through the roof," she said. "The old wooden window frames held single-pane glass."
She said the windows made it cold and kept the furnace running. A couple of the windows had been painted shut and would not open. The windows were on a list of projects, but the historic grant changed the list a little.
"I have so many other projects I am working on that I would not have had this one done so soon," Ciminero said. "I was approved for (the replacement of) six triple-pane windows that matched the old wooden ones."
The new windows were hard to tell apart from the old ones, thus not taking away from the historic look of the home.
Ciminero's home wears a historic plaque showing the home to be the "Simon Johnston Home, circa 1865." She said Simon Johnston was the original owner of Johnston Hardware in the village.
Ciminero wants to replace all the old wooden windows with the new windows, but when the grant opportunity arose, she did what she could. She said she would like to apply again, if it’s allowed.
The village will be continuing the program beginning in January. LaPlante said the guidelines will be approved at the first village council meeting of the year (the first Tuesday in January) and will be available on the website or at Poland Village Hall. Qualified applicants may then download the application and guidelines from the Poland Village website (www.polandvillage.org) and submit the application with all required paperwork.
The one-time grant, up to $5,000, will be awarded to qualified applicants after the ARB reviews the applications and meets with applicants in person.
"The homeowner is responsible for completing the work and paying for materials and labor," LaPlante said. "Once the work is complete, the Zoning Administrator will confirm the agreed-upon work was completed, and Village Council will approve the grant awards. The homeowner will then receive a check for the approved grant amount."
"There is no limit to the number of grants given each year," LaPlante said. "We will continue to award grants until the money runs out."