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In many urban neighborhoods, suburban cities, and small rural towns, restaurants play a unique role as a gathering place, community crossroads, or bulletin board. These establishments also create jobs and generate other economic activities, along with giving residents and visitors somewhere to eat, drink, and connect with neighbors and make new friends.

The nonprofit recognizes the inherent value of historic restaurants 鈥� those that have been in business at least 25 years and meet some additional historic and community 聽鈥� and has partnered with American Express for a second year of a program to provide cash support to a select few. Through a competitive grant-making process, the National Trust will award $40,000 grants to 25 restaurants around the United States.

鈥溾�� is the name of the program. Restaurant owners who believe their establishments meet the criteria can submit an online seeking support. In addition, members of the public can submit a simple, for any restaurant they believe meets the criteria. The deadline for both options is coming up in less than two weeks: Monday, April 4, 2022.

Restaurants 鈥渁re gathering places, they are places where people exchange culture, share culture, and get to know each other,鈥� said Katherine Malone-France, of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, in a phone interview with 成人X站 Newsradio. 鈥淭hey are places where people have family celebrations, they are places where business meetings happen. They are really, in many cases, the beating hearts of their communities, and they鈥檙e incredibly worthy of preservation because of that.鈥�

In the first round of grants in 2021, Malone-France says, Seattle restaurant was one of 25 restaurants selected from among 3,600 applications received.

鈥淢aneki worked on the exterior of their building and the grounds,鈥� Malone-France said, describing where the Seattle restaurant will direct its grant funds, which are meant to be used for outward-facing repairs and improvements. Maneki, which will turn 118-years old in October, is located on Sixth Avenue South near Jackson Street on the ground floor of the NP Hotel. Their pandemic-delayed plans will include lighting, landscaping, security upgrades, exterior brick cleaning and exterior painting.

Maneki鈥檚 projects were fairly typical and made a big difference.

鈥淲e saw last year just the really powerful impacts of these grants,鈥� Malone-France continued. 鈥淥ne thing we saw a lot last year was how much people love their historic signs.鈥�

Even before the pandemic, these often family-owned businesses were facing headwinds and unexpected economic difficulties that tended to make such improvements out of reach. COVID-19 did not help.

In 2019, says Anthony Anton, CEO of the , there were 16,000 restaurants in Washington. Now, that number 鈥� which, without the pandemic, would have likely remained fairly stable 鈥� has dropped to 15,000 in 2022.

Would a $40,000 grant make a difference to a family-owned restaurant?

鈥淚t’s a big deal,鈥� Anton said. 鈥淎ll these kinds of programs that help support local small businesses are really helpful 鈥� particularly the time we鈥檝e just come through, and the debt they’ve collected, and they’re trying to figure out their survival plan.鈥�

Applicants are encouraged (but not required) to attend on Wednesday, March 23, at noon Pacific Daylight Time.

Community members who want to nominate their favorite restaurant(s) may do so via an . The deadline for nominations and grant applications is April 4 at 8:59 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time.

The National Trust鈥檚 Katherine Malone-France points out the often overlooked or misunderstood reality about historic preservation: Saving old buildings and helping preserve long-time local businesses is not about yesterday, it鈥檚 about tomorrow.

鈥淧reservation is really about how we protect places like [historic restaurants] and let them continue to serve their communities, to let them continue to write the next chapter in their histories,鈥� Malone-France said.

鈥淲e wouldn’t want to live in communities that didn’t have these local historic, small restaurants 鈥� not just in their pasts, but in their futures,鈥� she said.

You can hear Feliks every Wednesday and Friday morning on Seattle鈥檚 Morning News, read more from him鈥�here, and subscribe to The Resident Historian Podcast聽here. If you have a story idea or a question about Northwest history, please email Feliks鈥�here.