The Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs has announced that $600,000 in Rural Revitalization Grants will be awarded for historic preservation projects in five Iowa communities. The grants, funded by the National Park Service, help rural communities preserve their history and foster economic development. They are administered by the State Historic Preservation Office, which is part of the Cultural Affairs department. The projects that will receive funding are:

• Clayton County, $125,000, rehabilitation of the historic Inn at Motor Mill near Elkader.
• Keokuk, $112,798, restoration of the Keokuk Union Depot.
• City of Muscatine and the Muscatine Arts Center, $122,402, restoration of the 1929 Japanese Garden at the Laura Musser McColm Historic District.
• City of Creston, $114,800, rehabilitation of the exterior of the 1899 Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad Station.
• Winneshiek County, $125,000, preservation of the Winneshiek County Courthouse in Decorah, one of the few remaining American Renaissance Beaux Arts-style rural courthouses in Iowa with the central tower intact.