A near record number of grants awarded by the New Mexico Historic Preservation Division resulted in more than $1.1 million being invested in preservation projects this year.
The division says work was completed in September on 16 projects around the state. That work was paid for with more than $300,000 in grants earlier this year. Communities invested another $735,000 in matching funds and labor.
The projects ranged from stabilizing 1,000-year-old ruins in northwestern New Mexico to rebuilding Santo Domingo Trading Post's 1880 warehouse façade.
The groundwork was also set for preserving a five-mile section of Raton Pass.
In Silver City, residents will have a downtown movie theater for the first time in more than 10 years. Lordsburg completed a cultural resource survey aimed at establishing the first historic district in Hidalgo County.
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