Historic Tax Credits encourage preservation over renovation - KTIV News 4 Sioux City IA: News, Weather and Sports

A project's architect bares the burden of meeting the historic standards set forth by the National Park Service and administered by the state's Department of Cultural Affairs.

The architect involved in the Linseed Oil building says the state requires you to go beyond simply renovating a building.

"You preserve the building, you bring it back to how it was when it was historically significant, and it's required that a building be on the national register of historic places," explained Nathan Kalaher, co-owner of PLaN Architecture.

That means keeping old floors, beams, and brick, and anything that put the building on the national register.  Kalaher says you can add modern touches, but you can't take those historic features away.

Projects that meet the preservation distinction receive 45% of the cost back in tax credits.  Renovations only get 10%.