HISTORIC VERMONT
An on-line news journal about the Preservation of Vermont’s
Historic Architecture and Landscape
Number 6, July 2001
Published by the Preservation Trust of
Vermont, 104 Church Street, Burlington, VT 05401(802) 658-6647
http://www.ptvermont.org
For more information, to subscribe or to unsubscribe to the email
version, or to submit something for publication please contact Meg
Campbell, Editor. mailto:meg@ptvermont.org
CONTENTS:
Opportunities
Events
Publications
Vermont News
National News
OPPORTUNITIES
The Vermont Downtown Conference
The Vermont Downtown Program’s third annual Conference will be
held on September 21, 2001, at the Capitol Plaza in Montpelier. We
are very pleased to have Neal Peirce as our keynote speaker. Mr.
Peirce is a nationally recognized journalist, syndicated columnist
with the Washington Post Writers Group, and Chair of the
Citistates Group (www.citistates.com).
He is a foremost writer among American journalists on community
development, growth, neighborhoods, and state-local issues.
The conference will also feature Kennedy Smith,
Director of the National Main Street Center. Kennedy is one of the
nation’s foremost experts on downtown Revitalization, and is a
frequent and popular speaker in Vermont. Other key elements of the
conference will include sessions on environmental design for a
welcoming downtown, a display room featuring exhibits from our
designated downtowns, and a reception hosted by Molly Lambert,
Secretary of the Agency of Commerce and Community Development.
Thank you in advance for your consideration. If
you have any questions or need additional information, please call
David Provost at 828-3053.
Art and Science of Local Preservation
Local preservationists are encouraged to attend the local
commission training on September 7, 2001 in Windsor Vermont. The
training -- Art and Science of Local Preservation--is sponsored by
the Vermont Division for Historic Preservation and the New
Hampshire Department of Historical Resources in conjunction with
the National Alliance of Preservation Commissions and the Town of
Windsor and Historic Windsor's Preservation Education Institute.
A program of highly interactive educational
sessions will be presented to provide training for commission
members and staff with varying degrees of preservation experience.
The training curriculum will allow participants to learn more
about current preservation issues in affecting New England.
Afternoon tours at Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site will
provide an opportunity for participants to exchange experiences
and to network with preservationists from Vermont and New
Hampshire.
Agenda
8:30 - 8:45
Coffee/Snacks
8:45 - 8:50 Welcome: Steve Christy,
President, Mascoma Savings Bank
8:50 - 9:15 Introductions: Linda
Wilson, New Hampshire Deputy SHPO; Emily Wadhams, Vermont SHPO
9:15 -10:00 New England Architecture
Elsa Gilbertson, Vermont Division for Historic Preservation
10:00-10:30 Do's and Don'ts of
Preservation Ordinances Autumn Rierson, Asst. General Counsel,
National Trust for Historic Preservation
10:30-10:45 Break
10:45-11:45 Science of Local
Preservation: Dan Becker, Executive Director, Raleigh Historic
Districts Commission
11:45-12:00 Q & A of morning
sessions
12:00-1:15 Lunch
1:15 - 2:00 Art of Local
Preservation: Pratt Cassity, Executive Advisor, National
Alliance of Preservation Commissions
2:00
Thank You and Adjourn. Meeting for optional tours at St.
Gaudens NHS: Chris Cochran, Vermont Division for Historic
Preservation; Nancy Bibbins, New Hampshire Department of
Historical Resources
Join in a series of presentations and discussion groups
custom-tailored to fit your needs. Meet your counterparts from
other cities, towns and villages. Develop strengths, find new
solutions and listen. Share information in order to improve your
local preservation programs, and acquaint yourself with the best
practices. Bring home ideas and skills that
you can share with your fellow preservationists.
The basic registration fee for the program is
$20 which includes all course materials, snacks and lunch. There
is a nominal charge of $5 for optional afternoon tours at Saint-Gaudens
National Historic Site in Cornish, NH.
Participants must pre-register for tours to
reserve a place. Registrations postmarked after August 24, 2001
will be $35. Spaces are limited, so early registration is
encouraged! Prepayment is required to guarantee your
registration. For more information contact Chris Cochran at
802.828.3047 or ccochran@dca.state.vt.us
or Judy Hayward 802.674.6752 (Voice/TTY) or histwininc@valley.net
Preservation Trust of Vermont Auction
Do you have something beautiful, interesting, valuable or enticing
that you would like to donate to the Preservation Trust of
Vermont's silent auction? Items of all kinds are accepted,
including gift certificates for meals, experiences, events, or
goods. Most donations are tax deductible. Contact Val Demong for
more information mailto: gdemong@together.net
or call the Preservation Trust of Vermont 658-6647.
Municipal Planning Grant Program
Funding is once again available for municipal planning efforts.
Approximately $700,000 will be available statewide, through a
competitive application process. CLG municipalities may
apply for any amount up to $15,000 for single applications or up
to $25,000 for consortia applications. Please note that
Preservation Commissions must have both planning commission and
select board approval to apply.
As you may know, the Municipal Planning Grant
Program funds technical assistance for town planning (National and
State Register surveys and nominations), implementation of plans
and ordinances (preservation plans and ordinace tune-ups),
encouragement of citizen participation and education (walking
tours and design guidelines), and innovative demonstration
planning projects. The application deadline is Oct. 31, 2001 and
the project must be completed by April 30, 2003.
If you have any questions please contact Jane
Lendway (jlendway@dca.state.vt.us)
at the Vermont Division for Historic Preservation, Dept. of
Housing and Community Affairs or Wendy Tudor (wtudor@dca.state.vt.us)
, Planning Division, Dept. of Housing and Community Affairs,
National Life Building, Drawer 20, Montpelier, VT
05620-0501. Tel. (802) 828-3211 (800) 622-4553
Studio Place Arts Seeks Executive Director
Studio Place Arts, a community center for the visual arts in Barre,
Vermont, seeks action-oriented, strategic thinker w/ experience in
non-profit fundraising, financial + operations management and/or
community outreach. Permanent FT position. First year salary
$27,500 to $32,000 w/ negotiable benefits. Send cover letter +
resume to: Chris Wood, SPA Search, PO Box 281, Montpelier, VT
05601; "mailto:cwood@together.net";
http://www.studioplacearts.com/"
American Planning Association Awards
Every year, planners and their projects are acknowledged through
the Northern New England Chapter of the American Planning
Association awards program. The program is designed to recognize a
special person, organization, or project for its contribution to
the field of land use and municipal planning. Award categories are
Citizen Planner, Professional Planner, Project of the Year and
Plan of the Year.
The awards committee is actively seeking
nominations for 2001 to be awarded at the NNECAPA annual meeting
on September 13, in Portland, Maine. If you wish to nominate a
person, organization, plan or project, please submit your
nomination(s) to your state director. Nominations must be received
by August 13, 2001, for consideration this year.
Additional information can be obtained from your
friendly NNECAPA State Director: VERMONT - David E. White, AICP,
Comprehensive Planner, City of Burlington, VT, Dept. of Planning
& Zoning, 149 Church Street, Burlington, VT 05401 802.865.7194
- voice 802.865.7195 - fax email: dewhite@ci.burlington.vt.us
EVENTS
Great Dinner! Great Band! Great Place!
You're invited to a special evening at the Grand Isle Lake House
on Wednesday August 15th, 2001 to Swing with Sterling Weed's
Imperial Orchestra. Reception at 6 pm, Dinner at 7 pm, Dancing
from 8 to 10 pm. Proceeds from the event will help support the
programs of the Preservation Trust of Vermont. Suggested
contribution levels: $60 per person Contributor, $100 per person
Sponsor, $250 per person Patron, $1,000 Founders' Circle. Dessert
and Dancing only: $25 per person (8 to 10 pm). RSVP to lynn@ptvermont.org.
Space is limited so please respond quickly.
"Close to the Land: Barns in
Vermont"
An exhibit at the Henry Sheldon Museum, 1 Park Street, Middlebury
June 23-October 14; Opening Reception, Sunday, July 8, 3-5pm
Victoria Blewer - Photography
John Brickels - Clay sculpture
Deborah Holmes - Watercolor
Curtis Johnson - Photography
Meryl Liebowitz - Oil painting
John Long - Wood sculpture
http://www.middlebury.edu/~shel-mus
Vermont Forum on Sprawl Presents:
"Growth Without Sprawl: Village Growth, Healthy Farms,
and Historic Character in Shoreham"
Date: Saturday, August 18, 2001
Time: 9:00am-1:00pm
Location: Shoreham Town Office, Main Street (Rte. 74 West),
Shoreham, VT
- How to Conserver Farms and Why: A Walk-About
Through Shoreham's Countryside
- How to Grow in the Village, Even With Problem
Soils - Discussion on Shoreham's Alternative Sewage System
- How to Reuse Historic Buildings: Tour of
Shoreham's Historic Buildings
Picnic Lunch to Follow. Please R.S.V.P. and
indicate if you would like to purchase a $5 brown bag lunch. Event
Held Rain or Shine.
PUBLICATIONS
Local Official's Guide to Developing
Better Community Post Offices
A project of the Vermont League of Cities and Towns, the
Preservation Trust of Vermont, and the Vermont Division for
Historic Preservation
One of the challenges facing Vermont's communities is the struggle
to keep the post office in the town and village centers and to
insure that the design solution fits respectfully in the
community. Factors such as cost and efficiency drive United States
Postal Service decisions to relocate local post office, sometimes
to sites outside of the town center. The Vermont League of Cities
and Towns, the Preservation Trust of Vermont, and the Vermont
Division for Historic Preservation, have worked together with
residents and local, state and federal officials to insure that,
whenever possible, the local post office remains visible,
convenient, accessible and compatible with its surroundings. The
"Local Official's Guide" offers a complete, thoughtful,
step-by-step approach to accomplishing this goal.
The publication is available on the Preservation
Trust's Web Site: http://www.ptvermont.org
(click on books and publications). A print version can be ordered
by email to: lynn@ptvermont.org.
VERMONT NEWS
National Register of Historic Places
The National Park Service has recently listed the Captains Louis
and Philomene Daniels House in Vergennes on the National Register
of Historic Places. The modest house was built around 1868 and was
the home of the world’s first licensed female steamboat pilot,
Philomene Daniles, and her husband who was also a steamboat
captain. Their family operated the Daniels Boat Line from
1880-1916, a steamboat line that transported passengers and
freight on Otter Creek and Lake Champlain.
The National Park Service also recently listed
the Jerry E. Dickerman House in Newport on the National Register
of Historic Places. The circa 1875 French Second Empire style
house was the home of Jerry E. Dickerman, a prominent lawyer and
customs collector and is representative of the homes of affluent
businessmen and professionals whose financial success was tied to
Newport’s prosperity following the arrival of the railroad in
1863. It was recently rehabbed for use as low and moderate income
housing utilizing the Rehabilitation Investment Tax Credit.
In addition, The National Park Service has
recently listed the building at 29 1/2 North Pleasant Street in
Middlebury on the National Register of Historic Places. The
building was listed as an amendment to the existing National
Register Historic District in Middlebury and is now considered a
contributing structure in that District. The building was built
around 1870 as a storage barn and was converted to a dwelling
around 1940. It was recently rehabbed for use as low and moderate
income housing utilizing the Rehabilitation Investment Tax Credit.
Community Kitchen Grants Awarded
The Community Café Association, Inc. announces six grant awards
totaling $15,500 in support of its COMMUNITY KITCHEN initiative
and ongoing mission to enliven and revive small town public life.
The awards include $7,500 from the Upper Valley Community
Foundation, $5,000 from an anonymous charitable donor, $1,000 from
the Ann Slade Frey Charitable Trust, $1,000 from the Ben &
Jerry¹s Community Action Team, a $500 planning grant from the
Preservation Trust of Vermont, and $500 from the Mascoma Bank
Foundation.
The Community Café Association, Inc. (CCA) was
founded as a nonprofit community organization two years ago in
South Strafford, VT. During that time it has accomplished an
impressive list of community projects and established itself as an
exciting new model for rural community development. It is creating
new ways for community members to come together around food and
arts, ways that are creative, low-cost, collaborative, and fun.
The integration of food and arts seems to be
central to this effort. People gather most easily around food and
in celebration of artistic expression. The Full Moon regularly
sells out its events, serving 50 to 75 meals in the process. This
food and arts "formula" works because it is whole,
integrative and alive. It works because it feeds people both
physically and spiritually. It works because it is reclaiming
something that many people have lost: a sense of place and
connection to their own communities, to the meals produced there,
to the artists at work there, to an entertainment that is distinct
and apart from the mass media world of TV and Hollywood. It works
because it¹s small-scale, quirky and local, not mass produced,
formulaic, and corporate.
The CCA'S COMMUNITY KITCHEN initiative will
create a model for a community-owned and operated eatery that uses
local food, supports sustainable agriculture, employs local youth,
may act as a community soup kitchen, connects farmers to consumers
and consumers to the land, celebrates regional and seasonal
cuisine, and educates community members about the nutritional and
health benefits of eating local, seasonal, and fresh foods.
Contact: Margo Baldwin mbaldwin@sover.net
Community Café Association, Inc., P.O. Box 135, South Strafford,
VT 05070, 802-765-4480, (802) 765-4869. http://www.straffordvt.net/cafe/index.html
Berkshire Town Hall
Built in 1899 this Town Hall is intact and well maintained. It
served as a community meeting place until 1980. Today, Bill Kelly,
a local volunteer, is spearheading an effort to rehabilitate the
building and bring it back to its social prominence. In addition
to other funds raised, the Berkshire town hall projects has been
awarded a $30,000 the Preservation Trust of Vermont and the
Freeman Foundation Grant.
Charlotte, Thorp Barn
The town of Charlotte, as part of a new "country park"
project has taken ownership of an early to mid 1800's English
style barn. The barn is in need of significant restoration and a
plan is being designed for the future use of the structure. The
foundation work (supported by a Preservation Trust Grant) is
complete . The Preservation Trust is working with the town to
tackle the timber frame restoration.
Danby Congregational Church
The Danby Congregational Church, built in 1838, has undergone a
series of renovations so that it now exhibits Greek Revival,
Gothic, and Colonial Revival style elements. The most dramatic
change was removal of a bell tower in 1988. Today church members
and local residents have launched a campaign to replicate the bell
tower in the Spring of 2002.
Granville Downtown Building
Granville has experienced a minor resurgence in recent years. In
addition to rehabilitation work on the Town Hall, there is
interest in "resurrecting" the library. Several new
retail art and t-shirt shops recently opened up. In the center of
Granville is a 2,000 sq. ft. old 3-1/2 story building, next to the
post office, that won't last long without some work. Jamie
Hutchins, Planning Commissioner and local developer, and others
are looking to resurrect it. Jamie is looking into developing
property as housing upstairs and offices or retail downstairs
Hardwick Depot
Earlier this year, the Hardwick Historical Society received a
$255,493 grant from the Vermont Agency of Transportation
Enhancement Activity Program for the restoration of the Hardwick
Train Depot. The first order of work is to complete repairs to the
6,800 sq. ft. roof. Interior work is scheduled for the fall and
winter. The Historical Society plans to make the Depot into a
museum for its collection.
Morrisville, River Arts of Morrisville
River Arts, a newly formed non-profit organization with the
mission of offering arts programs to the Morrisville region, has
an opportunity to acquire, restore, and re-use several historic
mill buildings now owned by Morrisville Light and Power Company
(wholly owned by Village of Morrisville). The two primary
buildings--the Creamery and the Grist Mill--are located on the
banks of the Lamoille River just to the east of the main village
area.
South Pomfret, Abbot Memorial Library
Exterior restoration work and interior rehabilitation work is well
underway on Pomfret's Abbott Memorial Library, which was given to
the town by Judge Ira A. Abbott as a memorial to his parents in
1903. The building is an outstanding example of the Colonial
Revival style, with a raised brick and stone facade and red slate
and tile roof.
Strafford, Colburn Barn
This mid to early 1800's barn is a critical part of the Strafford
villagescape. The barn is in need of significant foundation and
framing repair (upwards of $100,000) but is clearly critical to
the Strafford village--it is the only large barn left in the
village area. Melvin Colburn, owner of the property, had 25acres
of open land associated with the barn recently conserved with the
Upper Valley Land Trust. The barn is part of the collection of
buildings around the Strafford Meeting House green and is adjacent
to (and may have had a direction connection with) the Morrill
Homestead.
Waterbury Library
Former home of Dr. Janes, this Queen Anne style house was
converted to the town library. Dr Janes is noteworthy as the chief
surgeon at the battle of Gettysburg and director of the Civil War
hospital in Montpelier. The library houses Dr. Janes' collection.
The Library Trustees have been working for several years on
planning for an appropriate addition to the library to house
archival documents.
NATIONAL NEWS
Glendale Voters Reject Supercenter
On May 15, the citizens of Glendale, Arizona voted to uphold city
zoning rules that will prevent Wal-Mart from building a 220,000
square foot, 24-hour supercenter. Nearly 60 percent of voters
favored maintaining the zoning and keeping Wal-Mart out.
In 1999, the City Council rezoned a 39 acre site
from agricultural to commercial in order to allow construction of
a shopping center. City officials and nearby residents were led to
believe that the center would house small, neighborhood-serving
shops in a pedestrian-oriented design.
When Wal-Mart emerged as the primary tenant,
residents formed Glendale Citizens for Responsible Development (CRD)
and mounted a grassroots campaign to stop the project. They
succeeded in convincing the City Council to enact new zoning rules
that prohibit 24-hour operations and stores larger than 90,000
square feet on the site.
Wal-Mart and the property owners gathered enough
signatures to force a ballot referendum on the new zoning. Retail
developers are increasingly turning to voter referenda as a tool
for overturning unfavorable city council decisions. They almost
always out-spend opponents, dropping as much as half a million
dollars on a single campaign.
In Glendale, Wal-Mart spent $300,000 to persuade
voters. A video mailed to 20,000 households accused city officials
of misleading the public and succumbing to union pressure in
approving the new zoning. Without Wal-Mart, the video contended
the site could become home to "adult bookstores, laundromats,
and sleazy bars."
CRD and the United Food and Commercial Workers
Union, which represents supermarket workers, spent $68,000 on
their campaign to defeat the supercenter. Wal-Mart is non-union.
Wal-Mart's Glendale project is part of a major
push to open supercenters throughout Arizona. The retailer has
been rejected in Chandler, Gilbert, and Tucson. Voters in Payson
and Yuma approved Wal-Mart stores in referenda held in 1998 and
1999. Voters in Mesa will consider a ballot measure on Wal-Mart in
March 2002.
In Flagstaff, residents and city officials are
also weighing a Wal-Mart supercenter proposal. A public debate in
April drew a standing-room-only crowd. A grassroots citizens
organization, Friends of Flagstaff's Future (F3), is leading
opposition to the store. F3 argues that the city should instead
focus on its revitalized downtown, locally owned stores, and
neighborhood business districts.
