[Massplanners] Updates from the Massachusetts Historical Commission

Fri Mar 24 11:19:31 EDT 2023

Updates from the Massachusetts Historical Commission

Congratulations to Beverly and Sudbury, our two newest CLGs!
In December 2022, the Town of Sudbury was certified as the newest Certified Local Government (CLG) community in Massachusetts, with the City of Beverly following in early March 2023. In the CLG program, the MHC, with concurrence from the National Park Service, certifies communities that have a high level of preservation activity and interest. There are several benefits to becoming a CLG:

*         Increased participation in the National Register of Historic Places listing process

*         Dedicated funding in the MHC's Survey & Planning Grant program

*         Eligibility for additional funding and technical assistance from the MHC and the National Park Service

The City of Beverly established their Historical Commission in 1965, converting it to a combined Historical/Historic District Commission in 1971 with the establishment of the Fish Flake Hill Local Historic District. The Historic District Commission is active in overseeing the local historic district, administering a demolition delay ordinance covering all buildings in the city more than 50 years old, and undertaking other preservation efforts. These include the creation of a new preservation plan in 2020, listing the Beverly Powder House on the National Register of Historic Places in 2019, and receiving MHC Survey & Planning Grants for a historic resources survey and inventory of the Cabot-Rantoul Neighborhood, and a National Register nomination for Lynch Park, both awarded in March of 2022.

With a Special Act from the State Legislature, the Town of Sudbury established their first local historic district in 1963, along with a Historic Districts Commission to oversee it. Five years later, the Town established their Historical Commission, and together the two boards have been working to preserve and protect Sudbury's historic resources. The Historic Districts Commission now oversees four local historic districts while the Historical Commission is responsible for administering the Town's demolition delay bylaw, undertaking updates to the town's historic resources survey, and managing the Hosmer House, a Town-owned historic house museum. The commissions in Beverly and Sudbury also participate in their community's administration of the Community Preservation Act.

If your community is interested in becoming a CLG, please contact Jenn Doherty, Local Government Programs Coordinator and state CLG Coordinator, at Jennifer.Doherty at sec.state.ma.us<mailto:Jennifer.Doherty at sec.state.ma.us>. Please note that your community must have a local historic district or local landmark bylaw/ordinance to become a CLG.

FY23 MHC Survey & Planning Grant Awards
At its March 8, 2023 meeting, the MHC awarded its FY23 Survey & Planning Grants. These 50% reimbursable matching grants are available to communities for survey, planning, and documentation efforts that support local and statewide preservation goals. Each year the MHC must pass-through 10% of our federal funding to CLGs, which we do through the Survey & Planning Grant program.

Congratulations to all of the communities we will be working with in the coming year!

Certified Local Governments
Boston, East Boston Survey Update Phase I
Dedham, Building Form Updates for Old Town Center
Easton, Town Hall Historic Landscape Rehabilitation Plan*
Marblehead, Preston Beach & Clifton Neighborhoods Survey
Nantucket, Nantucket Community-Wide Survey - Phase 3
*Only CLGs are eligible to fund pre-development planning projects in the S&P program

Non-Certified Local Governments
Billerica, Billerica Historic Resources Survey Plan
Concord, Concord Historic Preservation Plan
Erving, Historic Properties Survey
Greenfield, Cultural and Architectural Resources Inventory Update
Mattapoisett, Historic Properties Survey
Orange, Historic Properties Survey Update
Stoneham, Stoneham Community-Wide Historic Preservation Plan
Watertown, Southside Neighborhood Survey
Webster, Webster Community-Wide Preservation Plan

Recent Publications from the National Park Service
Federal Tax Incentives for Rehabilitating Historic Buildings: Annual Report for Fiscal Year 2022<https://www.nps.gov/subjects/taxincentives/upload/report-2022-annual.pdf>, featuring the Worcester County Courthouse, Worcester, on the cover and inside

Guidelines on Flood Adaptation for Rehabilitating Historic Buildings<https://www.nps.gov/orgs/1739/upload/flood-adaptation-guidelines-2021.pdf>, supports the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation with more specific information on adapting historic buildings to flood conditions

Recent Listings in the National Register of Historic Places

*         Boston, Charlotte Street-Esmond Street Historic District

*         Boston, Dudley Terrace-Dudley Street Historic District

*         Fairhaven, Oxford School

*         Fall River, S. Gourse & Sons Block

*         Fall River, Third Street Commercial Corridor Historic District

*         Gardner, Sylvester K. Pierce House

*         Worcester, Main Street and Murray Avenue Historic District

Recent Local Historic Districts/Local Landmarks

*         Boston (Jamaica Plain), Blessed Sacrament Complex

*         Boston (Roxbury), Bond-Hampton House

*         Boston (Back Bay), Frederick Ayer Mansion Interior

*         Boston (Dorchester), Howe-Kingsley House

*         Boston (Mattapan), Tileston House

*         Boston (Roxbury), Warren House

*         Framingham, Center Common Historic District Expansion

Upcoming Events

*         April 6, 10 am - MHC Virtual Workshop, Developing an Historic Preservation Plan, register here<https://www.eventbrite.com/e/473398606977>

*         April 20, 12 pm - Preservation Massachusetts Preservation Conversation: Empowered Placemaking with Patronicity, more information<https://www.preservationmass.org/preservation-conversations>

*         April 21, 10 am - MHC Virtual Workshop, Adopting a Demolition Delay Bylaw or Ordinance, register here<https://www.eventbrite.com/e/473402869727>

*         April 22 - 34th Annual New England Industrial Archaeology Conference, Lawrence, more information<http://nec-sia.org/>

*         May 7-9 - Keeping History Above Water Conference, Portsmouth, NH, more information<https://historyabovewater.org/2023-portsmouth/>

*         May 17-20 -Vernacular Architecture Forum 2023 Annual Meeting and Conference, Plymouth, more information<https://www.vafweb.org/Plymouth-2023>

Update the MHC!
Membership or officer changes on your commission? Be sure to update the MHC! Please send any new member or officer information to Jenn Doherty, Local Government Programs Coordinator, at Jennifer.Doherty at sec.state.ma.us<mailto:Jennifer.Doherty at sec.state.ma.us>.

Jennifer B. Doherty
Local Government Programs Coordinator
Massachusetts Historical Commission
220 Morrissey Boulevard
Boston, MA 02125-3314
Office: (617) 727-8470
Remote: (617) 807-0685
Jennifer.Doherty at sec.state.ma.us<mailto:Jennifer.Doherty at sec.state.ma.us>

Register for virtual workshops<https://www.sec.state.ma.us/mhc/mhcotr/otridx.htm>

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://masscptc.org/pipermail/massplanners_masscptc.org/attachments/20230324/6162d1a8/attachment.htm>