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TALENT — The city’s 1899 Community Center at 206 E. Main St., site of numerous civic meetings and events, has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Building proponents hope the recognition will attract grants to preserve and restore the building and inspire others in Talent to seek listing for their structures.

A $4,000 grant from the Robertson E. Collins Fund, which supports historic preservation in the region, allowed the city to pay for preparation of a listing application. After review by state and federal officials, the secretary of the Interior gave final approval.

“I think it’s fabulous because a lot of people have known for a number of years that it should be on the register,” said Marla Cates, who has worked to preserve the building since the 1990s. “It was great that the organization stepped forward to give the grant to make the application.”

City Council and Planning Commission meetings, public sessions, celebrations and other events are still held regularly in the center.

“It would be hard to imagine anything in Talent that would be more deserving of the register,” said historic preservationist George Kramer, who prepared the application for the city.

Constructed originally as a schoolhouse, it was purchased by the city in 1911. Kramer said much of the community’s history is linked to the building, which has been in continuous use. It has served as a City Hall, police station, fire station, library, polling place and movie theater during World War II, among other roles.

City money, donations and grants funded $51,000 worth of restoration work that was completed in 1999. The center’s listing on the register may help the city secure grants for additional work.

“Grants generally require some criteria. This (listing) is often a primary criteria,” said City Planning Director Mark Knox. “I think there’s an overall need to make some system improvements to the building to accommodate its use as a city assembly place.”

There are issues with water in the basement and electrical and plumbing needs, said Knox.

Only one other building, Hanscom Hall at 201 Talent Ave., is on the national register in Talent.

“A lot of people are under the assumption that anything that is historic has already been placed on the register,” said Kramer. “But it requires a nomination by the owner.”

An inventory of the town’s historic and cultural resources done in the 1990s found 72 such places, said Cates. She and Kramer have discussed the possibility of having owners put together a multiple property application for listing.

Such listings are done when structures share similar characteristics but are not located in a concentrated area. Oregon’s lighthouses and covered bridges are examples of this listing type, said Kramer.

“We have talked about doing pre-World War II housing or residences of Talent,” said Kramer. “You need a cover document that establishes what kind of properties would be listed, then standards for registration.”

While Talent doesn’t have a whole block of 1920s homes, there are many in the downturn core that are mixed in with houses from later eras, said Kramer.

Buildings with steeples or towers might be another possibility for listing in a group, said Cates.

Tony Boom is a freelance writer living in Ashland. Reach him at tboomwriter@gmail.com.