[MassHistPres] Historical Preservation Planning Process

[Julie Nardone]

I was a former member of Ashland HC.


The survey is important to refer to when someone tries to take a home down on the list.


And it will still happen. We just lost one of the oldest homes in town and the town itself tore down one of its most historic buildings and they were at the top of the list. 


It costs too much, they say, to restore. 


It actually doesn't cost that much at all. Compared to new buildings today? It's a steal.


And then you have an iconic, unique functioning building for modern use.


The most important thing I found is to tie economic development WITH historic preservation. It is at the core of most downtown revitalization but few see it.


I did it at a town meeting and people understood what I was saying.


History and historical walking tours, restaurants in historic buildings, historical sites is a huge driver of the economy.


Find your town's history and use it to save the local history and buildings.


Massachusetts thinks it has so much history it can erase half of it and no one will notice.


Other parts of the country are way ahead of us. They are saving it and using it to differentiate themselves and they have booming downtowns.



If you can wake people up to the importance of their own local history it will go a long way.


We used to do a lot of local walking tours and got 50 to 60 people, almost as much as a town meeting!


The other thing is that developers are less likely to come in and tear everything down if the town itself cherishes its own history.


Many do not.


Some developers will also work with you to try and save an historic building or incorporate it into the new design. Reach out to them before they get to the Planning Board.


Best wishes,


Julie Nardone
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.cs.umb.edu/pipermail/masshistpres/attachments/20180809/fe7feb57/attachment.html>