Grant Funds for Community Cultural Planning and Action Plans
Connecticut
Trust for Historic Preservation
Funded through a Special Initiatives Grant
from Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism
Urban/Town/Village
Center Visioning and Revitalization:
Community Cultural Planning and Action
Plans
The Connecticut Trust for Historic
Preservation has Grant Funding available to support two municipalities in their
efforts to produce action plans for underutilized/unrecognized cultural and
historic assets (i.e., buildings, historic districts, town greens and parks,
etc) in their communities. Selected proposals will include a team of professionals
who will assist the municipalities in producing a focused strategy on the use
of certain cultural, economic and historic assets in a given area. The CT Trust
will work closely with municipalities in the assembly of the needed team
members as well as to help organize a general approach to meeting the goals of
the Grant Funding.
Applicants are invited to submit an “Application”
(see below) by Friday June 5, in triplicate, by 4 pm at the CT
Trust offices at 940 Whitney
Avenue, Hamden. Up
to $45,000 will be made available from the CT Trust to each of the two
municipalities elected by the CT Trust based on the review of the Application.
Funding will be used for planning. The two selected municipalities will work
with the CT Trust on a Final Work Plan that expands on the concepts contained
in the Application. Working in conjunction with the CT Trust, the municipalities
will have up to 9 months to complete their Action/Revitalization Work Plan.
Process: For those who are planning to
submit an Application, the CT Trust will sponsor a presentation/information meeting at 940 Whitney Avenue, Hamden on Thursday, May 21 at 10 am to
address questions pertaining to the overall concept and specifically to the
Application process. At this meeting, Robert McBride, founder and director of
the Rockingham Arts and Museum Project, Bellows
Falls, Vermont, will discuss
how the revitalization of historic and cultural assets can revitalize a
community. Mr. McBride is also an advisor for the National Trust for Historic
Preservation. The presentation will serve to assist potential applicants in
focusing Applications around historic/cultural assets.
The CT Trust believes that vibrant
communities are those that mix historic buildings with a variety of cultural, commercial/retail
and natural resources. What places, sites, cultural amenities exist in our
communities? Do residents value them? What do residents want their communities
to be like, given their historic, cultural and natural assets, what assets
could be invested in, what could be marketed?
The CT Trust, a 501c3 non-profit
organization, was chartered by the Connecticut General Assembly (PA 75-93) to
stimulate the preservation of historically and architecturally significant
sites and districts, as well as to assist state and local governments and
private agencies in fostering such preservation.
Criteria:
Historic and/or cultural assets are
included in the proposed project area.
Municipalities identify and will work
with non-profit and other stakeholders who reflect community interests.
The project will produce regional
cooperation with adjacent towns.
The project will discourage sprawl.
Application forms can be obtained from
the CT Trust via email to circuitrider@cttrust.org. Selection of two municipalities to
continue to the Final Work Plan stage will occur within three weeks of
Application submission date.
Contact
Brad Schide, CT Circuit Rider for the CT Trust and the National Trust @
860-463-0193.
