POLAND — Four homeowners in the village will have preservation work done on their homes under the new Poland Village Historic Preservation Grant program. The grants were approved earlier this year by the Village’s Architectural Review Board.

This is the first year for a new program geared at helping Poland Village residents maintain the historic look of their properties. The funds were donated after the sale of 9 College St., which fetched nearly $175,000.

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 council and the ARB helped develop guidelines for the grants. In a meeting earlier this year, Council President Michael Thompson gave some details.

“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 during the meeting. “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.

For the first year, 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.

Four of the grants were approved by the ARB in April and were further reviewed to insure compliance. Work on the properties are underway.

Most visible is the property at 11 College St. owned by Ryan and Kedron Patterson.

“This is an 1840s home,” Ryan said. “Hard to believe it will soon be 200 years old.”

His project came in at $5,300, but the maximum grant was for only $5,000. He said the walkway and front door was something he wanted to do anyway. The side porch part of the grant application was something he said would get done down the road, but since the grant came along, he was inspired to do it this year.

“We’ll be starting on the porch in a couple weeks,” Ryan said. “I would not have done all this work this year without the grant.”

That should make village officials happy as the grants were meant to encourage restoration and preservation of historic homes.

Another approved grant was for $3,887 for the 15 Water St. residence. Owner Kathy Miller said the grant will help with historic shutters on the home that is dated 1826.

“The old wood shutters were difficult to repair and some of the grape attachments were missing,” Miller said. “I was shocked to find the grapes on an architectural website so I thought ‘let’s try for the grant’ and then I found the historical shutters on another site. Everything is ordered and we are in the process of painting the house so it can get put back together. Once the painting is done and the shutters back up, it should be a great addition to the houses in Poland Village.”

Miller, like the Pattersons, said the project may not have been done without the grant.

“I think it is a great opportunity for anyone with an historical home to make an improvement that they may have delayed,” she said. “I know the cost of the shutter holders and shutters was not on our list of things to do right now with scraping and painting the exterior.”

Two other residences receiving grants included 429 N. Main St. with $5,000 approved to redress hardscapes with a top dressing of river rock, and 430 N. Main St. with a $1,774.10 grant to remove a door and replace it with the proper siding.

“In total, we have $15,536 in grants for 2025,” said Poland Village Councilwoman Laurie LaPlante, who sits on the ARB. “One thing we are looking at changing next year is to require residents to come in during the ARB meeting when their application is being reviewed. That way we can ask questions. The money is there and we will keep giving out grants until it is gone. ”