[MassHistPres] Preservation/restoration awards programs?

[Jennifer Doherty]

Hi Robert,
I often find these a bit hard to sustain in smaller communities, but
others' mileage may vary. Unless there's a lot of rehab work going on, you
may struggle to find multiple nominees year over year to sustain a full
ceremony.

Instead, I usually encourage local historical commissions to have an award
or certificate template on hand. Then, when there is a nice project, you
can request some time on the select board or city council agenda, or set up
a nice photo-op with the mayor, where you speak about the project and award
the certificate. Gets more eyes on the historical commission's work that
way too. Award it in May to correspond with national Preservation Month
activities, or whenever the project is complete.

And be sure to let your State House delegation know in advance, they can
usually arrange for official citations for the awardee.

Thank you,
Jenn



On Thu, May 22, 2025 at 2:55 PM Robert Mahowald via MassHistPres <
masshistpres at cs.umb.edu> wrote:

>
> Hello all,
> We at the Dartmouth historical commission have observed other towns that
> have successfully built awards/recognition programs centered on successful
> preservation and restoration in their towns.
>
> We’re looking for ideas and best practices on this from other town
> historians. We’re thinking an annual award, either given to builders,
> architects, or homeowners (or all 3, as they are a team) behind projects
> that either
>
> 1) expand their homes/civic buildings in ways that embrace the original
> architecture and details,
>
> 2) or renew, in a way that throws off prior renovations that have been
> poorly done, in favor of a reset on the original architectural style of the
> structure.
>
> We’d appreciate hearing from towns that have such programs up and running,
> and learn more about what makes them successful or not.
>
> Thank you! 🙏
>
>
> *Sent from my iPhone - blame Siri*
>
> *Robert Mahowald*
> Mobile: 978-971-1801
> _______________________________________________
> MassHistPres mailing list
> MassHistPres at cs.umb.edu
> https://mailman.cs.umb.edu/listinfo/masshistpres
>


-- 
Jennifer B. Doherty
Preservation Planner
Barrett Planning Group LLC
350 Lincoln Street, Ste 2503
Hingham, MA 02043
Office: (781) 934-0073
Cell: (508) 209-7443
jenn at barrettplanningllc.com
www.barrettplanningllc.com
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