[MassHistPres] Staffing questions wrapup

[slater at alum.rpi.edu]

I will admit to being very surprised that there are few paid staff
members directly dealing with historic preservation in the responses
I've received.

In my opinion, Springfield is not doing the following things well:

1) Monitoring the progress of approved projects. The HC approves, but no
one checks to see if the project is constructed as proposed. Or worse
yet, when the project involves a demo/rebuild, whether the rebuild
portion has been completed.

2) Follow up on properties that have performed unauthorized work. We
catch at least 20 of those per year, I'm sure more have gone unnoticed.
This would involve communicating with the property owners, and also with
the city's law department if the property owners are unresponsive.

3) Tracking of properties that have time restrictions on modifications
-- for example, a handicapped ramp, a fence for special circumstances.

4) Advising residents on proposed work. The process is currently "pick
up a form, fill it out, and submit it". We get a lot of people whose
only knowledge of renovations comes from Home Depot.

5) Maintaining lists for the public, including approved projects and
materials. This would provide guidance for future petitioners.

6) Surveying the properties. One problem we have is in the area of
unauthorized work, our properties have not been photographed since 1975,
and we can't prove that work has occurred recently.

7) Identifying new opportunities for preservation, creating new
districts. It has been 30 years since our districts were created, and it
may be time to recognize that a neighborhood of well-built craftsman
homes qualifies for historic preservation.

8) Marketing the districts by creating brochures, etc.

9) Working with various external entities to ensure that significant
non-district properties are maintained and protected. We just lost a
1870's mansion that had been used by American International College as a
dormitory. I only heard that it was to be torn down by reading of its
demolition in the paper.

10) Coordinating with various city departments regarding building
permits, stop-work orders, and structural problems, or even pending
legal action. Basically, managing the interaction with other municipal
agencies.

Although a lot can be done by volunteers, unless one volunteer is
willing to serve as a free full-time municipal employee, it is difficult
to perform the above duties consistently. 

How do other districts perform those duties? Is the problem here that
Springfield is administering a large number of properties that include
people who aren't preservationists, and that requires more effort than
most towns?

Ralph Slate
Springfield Historical Commission