As cities and communities work toward renovating their historic downtowns, they have continued to rely on the help of a state office tasked with preserving the past.

The West Virginia Historic Preservation Office was created following the passage of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966. The role of the office allows the state to carefully watch and recommend action for historic areas, structures and properties.

"We are the keepers of history," said Susan Pierce, deputy state historic preservation officer. "We have the main resources of rehabilitation of historic properties."

The agency serves as a gatekeeper for West Virginia's contribution to the National Register of Historic Places. The preservation office investigates and reviews potential nominees before submitting them to the National Parks Service for placement on the list. The National Register includes more than 130 registered and pending historical districts and hundreds of historical properties in West Virginia.

In addition to screening for the National Register, the office also offers grants for registered or potential historic properties and buildings. The preservation office offers two types of grants:

Development Grants are designed to assist in the rehabilitation of properties in a historic district or for archeological development on the property of a registered historic place.

Federal Survey and Planning Grants help provide potential historic properties with the financial assistance to move along the process of becoming registered. The grant also assists the owner with archeological surveys and heritage education projects.

"Owners must also provide details of matching grants," Pierce said. "We want the projects to be able to take advantage of the grant programs, but they have to also put their own money into it, too."

Chris Knorr, preservation office structural historian, said the state offers on average $450,000 each year in development grants through the state budget. He said the state awarded $474,280 in development and $78,120 in survey and planning grants in fiscal 2004. The state receives on average $2 million in requests each year.

"This funding is necessary because a lot of these organizations, especially nonprofits, would not be able to do this otherwise," Knorr said. Many of these organizations have trouble finding the matching funds. It would be really difficult for them if they had to come up with the entire amount."

Many property owners and businesses that occupy registered historic buildings are eligible for tax credits for historic rehabilitations. Residential structures and properties are eligible for a 20 percent state tax credit for specific renovations. For commercial structures, the National Parks Service offers a 20 percent tax credit coupled with a 10 percent credit from the state.

"It's an incentive for the businesses that we offer a 10 percent credit," said Jennifer Murdock, structural historian for the state Historic Preservation Office.

The Historic Preservation Office estimated West Virginia applicants claimed more than $10.5 million in federal and state tax credits in 2004. Murdock said property owners are restricted in what they can do with their properties to qualify for tax credits.

"There are safeguards in place to see the projects are being done correctly and that they are eligible for tax credits," she said. "People have to provide proof that the work being done on the property is restoring the historic integrity of the building."

Proof includes photographs of the restoration and onsite visits by a historic preservation officer. The program allows renovations involving walls, partitions, floors, ceilings, stairs, chimneys and plumbing, among others, but it excludes appliances, structural additions, furniture and lighting fixtures.

"The quick rule is if you could pick up a house and turn it upside down, anything that falls out is not eligible for a tax credit," she said. "The tax credit is an incentive to encourage owners to restore their historic structures."

Murdock said some people may have misconceptions about the Historic Preservation Office. Some may believe the office has the right to decide what happens to a historic property.

"We can only offer suggestions about the owner's property," she said. "The owner can do anything to their property when it is on the National Register -- even tear it down. We have no right to tell people what to do."

Murdock said West Virginians need to allow themselves to redefine what is historic. As an example, she pointed to public housing along Hal Greer Boulevard in Huntington. While that area is known for its high crime rate, the structures have historic value.

"These buildings are historic," she said. "They were built in the 1930s and are examples of some of the first government housing in the nation. It is the progression from the poor houses of the 19th century to the public units of the 20th century. And as for the high crime -- is it the buildings that cause the crime?

"It just shows that as we get older, more things are becoming historic," she said. "Look at how '50s style is becoming more popular. It's not just historic Victorian Wheeling anymore -- it's also 1930s and 1940s Wheeling now."