The Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation has awarded a $25k grant to the Historic Commission targeted towards creating a historical preservation plan for the 9 Mill Hill buildings. The City of Norwalk kicked in $40k towards the same effort, resulting in a project, sorely needed, to move forward. The Hour reports:
The Norwalk Historical Commission received a $25,000 grant from the trust and a $40,000 grant from the city’s capital budget to hire a historical architect to create a preservation plan for nine buildings located at Mathews Park and Mill Hill Historic Park, all of which range from mid-18th century to early-20th century.
“This will help immensely in maintaining city-owned historic properties,” said David Park, chairman of the Norwalk Historical Commission. “Right now, we fix what needs to be done as we can afford it. We do a lot of Band-Aiding.”
Park said many of these buildings are in desperate need of repairs and have been for quite some time.
“When I joined the commission in January of 2007, I inspected all of the buildings, and I was shocked at what I found,” Park said. “I could stick my finger through the rotten wood in some of the buildings.”
The commission has been petitioning the city for the funds to create a preservation plan for nearly five years, said Marija Bryant, a former member of the Historical Commission.
“We kept requesting funds to create a preservation plan from the city, but the funding just wasn’t available, even though the city acknowledged that there was a need for this plan,” Bryant said. “It was hugely important that the city was able to support our efforts this year.”
The historical architect, once hired, is expected to start work this summer on the preservation plan.
“The architect will review all nine properties and give us a plan for what repairs need to be made immediately as well as long term,” said Susan Gunn, Norwalk Museum curator. “The plan will provide us with an organized way of taking care of these buildings.”
A detailed plan will afford several benefits to both the city and the historical properties themselves, Bryant said. If the planned maintenance schedule is kept, it will allow the city to save money on quick repairs and will keep the buildings in better shape.
“Ad hoc repairs just aren’t cutting it anymore,” Bryant said. “Planned maintenance is always a better and the more affordable option.”
The plan will also make it easier for the commission to apply for future grants as preservation plans are commonly a requirement of grant approval, Gunn said.
State Sen. Bob Duff, D-25, majority whip, said he was glad the state was able to appropriate the funds available to the Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation so it could then be distributed to municipalities such as Norwalk.
“For so long, it’s been a put-out-the-fire approach to maintaining these buildings and, hopefully, this will allow the commission and the city to budget money each year to make the recommended maintenance,” Duff said.
So far so good. David Parks, Chairman of the Historic Commission is moving things along and working with the city and state to get things done. Which is why its so odd to see State Rep Bruce Morris chime in:
State Rep. Bruce Morris, D-140, said support from organizations such as the trust is important in tough economic times.
“Norwalk has a rich history, and this is a great opportunity for the state to partner with the city and provide support to that history, especially with diminishing municipal dollars available to support those efforts,” Morris said.
Um, yeah I guess the City of Norwalk chipping in $40k is diminishing in light of the state $25k. The rest of us will just note that its about time that the City of Norwalk works with State agencies to seek grant opportunities.
source: The Hour, Historical group to receive $65K in grants, By JILL BODACH, July 3, 2008
