MacAlpine's gets $50,000 grant for historic preservation

MacAlpine's Diner and Soda Fountain is getting some help from an organization that offers grants to historic small restaurants as it gets back in the swing of things following its reopening earlier this year .

The big picture: The National Trust for Historic Preservation on Monday announced the recipients of its 2024 Backing Historic Small Restaurants grant program.

• Now in its fourth year, the program provides small eateries $50,000 to "help them rejuvenate, innovate, and expand their businesses, ensuring their cherished legacies endure."

Driving the news: MacAlpine's was one of 50 recipients this year, and the only one from Arizona.

• In previous years, the trust provided grants to 25 restaurants.
• MacAlpine's was selected for a grant "due to its significant cultural and historical contributions to the community" and the "American culinary traditions" it embodies, Elliot Carter, a spokesperson for the trust, told Axios.

Zoom in: MacAlpine's owner Monica Heizenrader told Axios she plans to use the grant to "spiff up the outside" by replacing windows that are covered in graffiti and possibly removing stucco and adding a mural.

• At least $40,000 of the money must be used for exterior improvements, according to the trust.
• "We're just trying to make the outside look amazing. We want it to look as cute as the inside does," Heizenrader said.

Catch up quick: The historic diner at Seventh and Oak streets in Phoenix closed in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

• MacAlpine's originally opened in 1929, and Heizenrader touts Frank Lloyd Wright, Barry Goldwater, John McCain, Rose Mofford and Wayne Newton as some of its regular customers.
• Heizenrader and her husband bought the restaurant in 2001.

Flashback: One of last year's recipients was Delgadillo's Snow Cap , a Route 66 burger stand in Seligman.