[MassHistPres] Local Preservation Update E-Newsletter-June 24, 2013

[Skelly, Christopher (SEC)]

LOCAL PRESERVATION UPDATE E-NEWSLETTER
Published by the Massachusetts Historical Commission
June 24, 2013

STATE HISTORIC PRESERVATION CONFERENCE-SAVE THE DATE!
Save the date for the 2013 Massachusetts Historic Preservation Conference to be held Friday, October 18 in Lexington, Massachusetts.  Join us and other members of the preservation community for a day of sharing ideas, discussing challenges, and celebrating successes.  For more information, visit www.MApreservationconference.org<http://www.mapreservationconference.org/>.

MHC PRESERVATION AWARD WINNERS
The MHC's 35th Annual Preservation Awards held in May recognized 12 projects and people.  Awards were given in the categories of Adaptive Reuse, Rehabilitation & Restoration and Local Preservationist.  Our congratulations to all award winners!
The 2013 Preservation Award Winners were:
Boston, Second Brazer Building, Rehabilitation & Restoration
Boston, Calvin Swallow House, Rehabilitation & Restoration
Chelmsford, North Chelmsford Town Hall, Rehabilitation & Restoration
Kingston, Frederic C. Adams Public Library, Rehabilitation & Restoration
Kingston, Walter Wales Hoeg, Local Preservationist
Lowell, Appleton Mills, Adaptive Reuse, Rehabilitation & Restoration
Needham, Needham Town Hall, Rehabilitation & Restoration
North Adams, Clark Biscuit Apartments, Adaptive Reuse, Rehabilitation & Restoration
Northbridge, Linwood Mill Apartments, Adaptive Reuse, Rehabilitation & Restoration
Waltham, The Vale / Lyman Estate Weatherization Project, Rehabilitation & Restoration
Westport, Stephen Willcock House / Westport Town Farm, Rehabilitation & Restoration
Wilmington, Carolyn R. S. Harris, Local Preservationist

SURVEY AND PLANNING GRANTS FOR FY 13
The Massachusetts Historical Commission was pleased to award 13 Survey and Planning Grants for FY 13.  This competitive, matching grant program provides funding for projects such as historic property survey, national register nominations and historic preservation plans.  While MHC was unable to provide funding for all of the applications received, MHC was pleased to offer survey and planning grants to both Certified Local Governments and non-Certified Local Governments again this year.  The communities of Amherst, Boston, Granby, Marblehead, Medford, Newton, North Adams and West Stockbridge will be using the grant to update and expand their historic property survey with the assistance of professional preservation consultants. The city of New Bedford will be hiring a consultant to prepare local historic district design guidelines for the Waterfront Historic District.  The city of Lowell will be utilizing the grant for staff assistance while Salem will fund a National Register nomination for Greenlawn Cemetery.  With the 400th anniversary of the founding of Plymouth Colony approaching, the Fiske Center for Archaeological Research at the University of Massachusetts/Boston is undertaking an archaeological reconnaissance survey of resources associated with Plymouth Colony in the towns of Duxbury, Kingston, Marshfield and Plymouth.  Lastly, the town of Lexington has received a grant for costs related to the hosting of the 2013 statewide historic preservation conference in October.  The Lexington Historical Commission and the Lexington Historical Society have graciously offered their time and energy to coordinate local arrangements for the conference.  For those communities hiring a consultant to assist them, the local project coordinators are busily preparing the paperwork to advertise these projects through requests for proposals.

Local historical commissions at fifty years (1963-2013)
In 1963, state law established the Massachusetts Historical Commission as well as the option for cities and towns to establish local historical commissions. As part of our retrospective look at celebrating 50 years of local historical commissions (1963-2013), MHC staff is reviewing documents relating to the history of local historical commissions.  So far, we have discovered that by 1967, over 20 cities and towns had established a local historical commission.  These early adopters were Amesbury, Burlington, Cambridge, Charlton, Danvers, Georgetown, Gloucester, Grafton, Harwich, Haverhill, Ipswich, Lancaster, Lynnfield, Marblehead, Marshfield, Newburyport, Northbridge, Swansea, Upton, Uxbridge, Westfield, Weymouth, and Winchester.  By 1975, that number had grown to 175 local historical commissions and just four years later was up to 292.  For the early commissions in Massachusetts, historic property survey was the highest priority.  During this period, historic property survey was critical in those communities directly impacted by new highway construction.  Other local historical commission projects noted in MHC files or town reports include educational programs, restoration projects and local historic district planning as well as others.  When local historical commissions were first established, there was no such thing as the National Register of Historic Places.  After 1966, when the National Historic Preservation Act was passed, listings on the National Register of Historic Places grew quickly.  For many years, local historical commissions were advisory municipal boards.  However, since the 1980s, with the introduction of demolition delay, over 130 local historical commissions have expanded their preservation planning, educational and advisory role.  For more information on local historical commissions, contact Christopher.Skelly at state.ma.us<mailto:Christopher.Skelly at state.ma.us>.

NEW LISTINGS IN THE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
Wellesley, Fuller Brook Park

CALENDAR OF EVENTS AND DATES TO REMEMBER
June 27, 2013
Demolition Delay Workshop, Ashfield. 7pm.  For more information, contact Christopher.Skelly at state.ma.us<mailto:Christopher.Skelly at state.ma.us>
October 18, 2013
Massachusetts Historic Preservation Conference, Lexington.  For more information, visit www.MApreservationconference.org<http://www.mapreservationconference.org/>.

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Please forward this newsletter on to others that may be interested.  If you are receiving this as a forwarded message and would like to receive it directly, please contact the Massachusetts Historical Commission.   The Massachusetts Historical Commission also has a listserve, known as masshistpres, specifically for historic preservation.  You can join this listserve by visiting http://mailman.cs.umb.edu/mailman/listinfo/masshistpres.  This newsletter is posted on masshistpres directly and sent to local commission members.  We welcome your thoughts on what you would like to see in this newsletter.  The website for the Massachusetts Historical Commission is http://www.sec.state.ma.us/mhc/mhcidx.htm
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