For Douglas County residents who own a barn but are unsure whether it’s worth saving or how to approach repairing it, there’s an opportunity to receive an evaluation grant through the Kansas Barn Alliance’s “Let’s Get Started” program.

The Douglas County Heritage Conservation Council will host an informational meeting about the evaluation grant program at 9 a.m. Saturday, March 21, at the Douglas County Fairgrounds in Flory Meeting Hall. 

To be eligible to receive a barn evaluation grant, barns need to be listed in the Kansas Historic Resource Inventory (KHRI) database and listed as “eligible for the National Register of Historic Places.” More than 200 barns in Douglas County were added to KHRI through a series historic building surveys which began in 2011.

This spring, five barns in Douglas County will be selected through an application process. The Kansas Barn Alliance and the Douglas County Heritage Conservation Council will cover two-thirds of the cost for the $1,000 evaluation and the barn owner would be responsible for the remaining one-third.

For more information, contact Heritage Conservation Council Coordinator Jan Shupert-Arick at  jshupertarick@dgcoks.gov or 785-330-2878.

• To find out if your barn is listed in the KHRI database: https://khri.kansasgis.org
• More information about the barn evaluation program: http://www.kansasbarnalliance.org/barnaidletsgetstarted.php