Title:  Massachusetts State Historic Preservation Plan - 2000

Massachusetts Preservation Plan

Number of Pages: 95
Approval Date: December 20, 2000
Planning Cycle 5 years

Contact Information:
     Christopher C. Skelly
     Director, Local Government Programs
     Massachusetts Historical Commission
     220 Morrissey Boulevard
     Boston, Massachusetts 02125
     (617) 727-8470; fax (617) 727-5128
     E-mail: Christopher.Skelly@sec.state.ma.us

Mission/Vision Statement:
Not provided in the Plan.

Table of Contents:

Introduction
Historic Preservation in Massachusetts: A Statewide Overview
     Inventory of Historic and Archaeological Assets
     Archaeological Resources
     The Statewide Reconnaissance Survey
     National Register of Historic Places
     Other MHC Sources of Information on Historic Resources
     Massachusetts Cultural Resources Information System
          (MACRIS)
     Massachusetts Preservation Projects Fund
     Environmental Review
     Local Government Programs
Regions of Massachusetts
     Berkshire County
     Connecticut Valley
     Central Massachusetts
     Eastern Massachusetts
     Essex County
     Boston Area
     Southeast Massachusetts
     Cape Cod and the Islands
Statewide Goals and Objectives
Implementing the Plan: Massachusetts' Preservation Partners
Amending the State Historic Preservation Plan
Bibliography
Glossary

PLAN DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES
Public Participation Strategies:

• Wide range of constituents invited to review of draft revised plan.

• SHPO staff compiled updated information and drafted Plan revision.

HISTORIC AND CULTURAL RESOURCES
Cultural resource evidence of over 10,000 years of human activity; archaeological sites associated with the region's earliest Native inhabitants; farmsteads; fishing ports; Federal houses; mills and factories; historic landscapes such as the designed grounds of a country estate, a town green common, a hilltop orchard, or a cranberry bog; 19th-century railroad bridges; historic buildings, structures, parks, landscapes, and burial grounds; historic archaeological sites such as cellar holes, foundations, and mill sites; First Period Houses; 20th-century industrial complexes; mill worker housing; urban neighborhoods; lighthouses; rural/agricultural landscapes; transportation-related resources; military bases.

ISSUES, THREATS, & OPPORTUNITIES

• Many local historic property inventories are over 20 years old and need updating and improved documentation;
• MHC's Survey and Planning Grants are successful in targeting areas that need surveys;
• Increased comprehensiveness of historic building inventory;
• Less than 1% of state has been surveyed for archaeological resources;
• Archaeological knowledge of some time periods, some themes, and some parts of the state is variable;
• Privately held artifact collections have been inventoried;
• Need to expand maintenance and use of computer databases and mapping;
• Multi-disciplinary statewide reconnaissance survey completed for only 5 of the 8 regions of the state;
• Successful National Register program is community-based;
• Incentives exist for property registration;
• MHC evaluates each nomination for archaeological potential;
• MACRIS is valuable computer database, information management, and GIS tool;
• The Massachusetts Preservation Projects Fund has been highly successful but needs a committed funding stream;
• Uncontrolled growth, suburban sprawl, and rural development threaten historic resources;
• Local, regional, and statewide planning that integrates historic preservation goals can benefit communities and protect resources;
• Dispersed development and declining agricultural base threaten historic farmlands, open spaces, and scenic vistas;
• Open space acquisition, land conservation efforts, and preservation restriction programs help protect landscapes;
• Disinvestment and suburban commercial development continue to cause the decline and deterioration of urban and industrial centers;
• Aging and historic building stock is susceptible to abandonment, demolition, or unsympathetic alterations;
• Local demolition review mechanisms are needed;
• Privately owned archaeological sites are vulnerable to destruction;
• General public lacks awareness of archaeological resources;
• Erosion, major storms, hurricanes, earthquakes, and fires threaten historic and cultural resources;
• Some forms of state economic incentives for preservation are lacking;
• Continuing need for financial support for preservation efforts;
• Travel and tourism industry benefits from visitor attraction to the state's history and heritage;
• Budget constraints, conflicting public policies, and lack of awareness of their stewardship role limit public agencies' ability to care for resources under their care;
• Strong local preservation efforts by over 450 local commissions;
• Local preservation enabling legislation may be out-of-date;
• Local commissions could benefit from more training and technical assistance;
• Lack of formal state teaching curriculum that incorporates historic and cultural resources;
• Growing ethnic communities are opportunities for fostering appreciation of preservation;
• Need for broadened public information and awareness activities;
• Broad and diverse network of private non-profit preservation advocates;
• ADA implementation creates a need for technical assistance to property owners.

GOALS
The following are statewide goals. More detailed recommendations and priorities are provided for regions of the state and are located in the regional sections of the plan.

1. Integrate historic and cultural resource identification, evaluation and registration into local, regional and statewide preservation planning.
2. Expand historic and cultural resource protection through the implementation of planning and preservation tools at the local, regional and statewide level.
3. Strengthen efforts for the preservation of Massachusetts' rural historic landscapes.
4. Incorporate specific historic preservation objectives in community revitalization and economic development efforts.
5. Strengthen initiatives for the protection of significant archaeological resources.
6. Heighten the state's ability to address the effects of natural processes on historic resources and its preparedness for responding to natural disasters impacting Massachusetts' historic and cultural resources.
7. Provide additional economic incentives to private property owners for the maintenance, rehabilitation or restoration of historic properties.
8. Provide adequate levels of funding to support historic preservation activities across the state.
9. Sustain heritage tourism as an integral component of Massachusetts' travel and tourism industry, and the state's economy.
10. Establish the Commonwealth and its municipalities as more responsible stewards of the historic resources in their care.
11. Provide a strong statutory foundation for Massachusetts' municipal preservation programs.
12. Strengthen the technical expertise and effectiveness of historical commissions and historic district commissions.
13. Make heritage education a component of the state's educational curriculum.
14. Heighten public awareness, understanding and appreciation of the state's historic and cultural resources and their preservation.
15. Strengthen the effectiveness of Massachusetts' private non-profit preservation organizations.
16. Make Massachusetts' historic and cultural resources accessible to all the state's citizens.

IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGIES
Strategies Implementing the Goals

1. Integrate preservation into planning.
   • Encourage local historical commissions to develop and implement survey plans;
   • Provide technical and financial assistance for surveys;
   • Complete statewide reconnaissance survey of 3 outstanding units;
   • Urge state and federal agencies and non-profit land-holding organizations to conduct surveys;
   • Include historic property information in local planning efforts;
   • Promote state-of-the-art documentation;
   • Include full range of cultural resources in surveys;
   • Integrate National Register in planning initiatives and review pre-1986 listings for completeness;
   • Expand use of GIS, computer databases, & other advanced technologies.
2. Resource protection through planning and preservation tools.
   • Strengthen regional planning initiatives;
   • Adopt comprehensive regional and statewide planning and development legislation that includes preservation;
   • Use corridor management plans and scenic byway initiatives;
   • Include historic and cultural resource components in community master plans;
   • Include preservation goals in state funding and technical assistance programs that support local planning;
   • Fully use existing planning and zoning mechanisms;
   • Examine existing planning and zoning policies for impacts to resources;
   • Local adoption of Community Preservation Act.
3. Rural historic landscape preservation.
   • Incorporate rural landscape objectives in Agricultural Preservation Restriction and open space acquisition programs;
   • Local adoption of protection mechanisms, such as open space zoning, growth management, and concentrated development;
   • Support continued land conservation efforts of non-profit organizations and state agencies;
   • Incorporate historic and cultural resource preservation in broader land conservation efforts.
4. Urban and industrial revitalization.
   • Expand downtown revitalization programs and strengthen their preservation objectives;
   • Encourage more widespread community participation in Main Street Program;
   • Economic development strategies that encourage rehab of historic industrial properties;
   • Incorporate preservation objectives in state capital investment assistance programs;
   • Balance environmental regulations with preservation of historic industrial sites;
   • Revise local zoning policies to encourage investment in urban areas.
5. Protection of archaeological sites.
   • Develop long-term site protection plans;
   • Identify important sites and initiate outreach to property owners;
   • Incentive programs for site protection such as donation of preservation restrictions or conservation easements;
   • Heighten public awareness of the importance of saving sites using "Saving Past for the Future" brochure and Massachusetts Archaeology Week;
   • Local adoption of mechanisms such as archaeological review bylaws;
   • Develop advocacy role of avocational archaeology groups, Native Americans, and local preservation commissions;
   • Use land conservation strategies to protect significant archaeological sites, including Open Space Bond provisions for land acquisition;
   • Use GIS mapping capabilities.
6. Natural processes.
   • Increase public awareness of preservation issues related to natural disaster planning;
   • Heighten awareness of impacts of coastal erosion and storms on resources;
   • Incorporate historic and cultural resource protection strategies in environmental, natural disaster, and emergency preparedness planning.
7. Economic incentives.
   • Increase use of federal rehab tax credits;
   • Provide state income tax credit for work on state register properties;
   • Develop preservation incentives within existing state funding program;
   • Establish preservation incentives in state's Economic Target Area program;
   • Conduct economic impact study to assess impact of local historic districts on property values.
8. Funding.
   • Seek expanded appropriations for the Massachusetts Preservation Projects Fund;
   • Encourage use of CDBG, Small Cities, and TEA-21 funds for preservation projects;
   • Examine creation of other dedicated funding sources for preservation projects;
   • Explore public-private partnerships for rehab of public properties.
9. Heritage tourism.
   • Aggressively market the state's historic and cultural attractions outside the state;
   • Improve state's tourism infrastructure;
   • Develop and implement visitor assistance databases, such as DEM's "Heritage Discovery Network;"
   • Support Office of Travel and Tourism's efforts to integrate small historic and cultural institutions into the larger heritage tourism effort;
   • Conduct economic impact study to assess impact of historic preservation on state economy;
   • Coordinate tourism and Heritage Corridor efforts.
10. Public stewardship.
    • Use Massachusetts Preservation Projects Fund to preserve historic municipal buildings;
    • Develop baseline historic preservation policy for state agencies;
    • Strengthen preservation efforts of the Massachusetts Highway Department;
    • Establish training program for state agency staff;
    • Support public/private partnerships, such as DEM's Historic Curatorship Program, landscape inventories, and landscape grant programs;
    • Minimize impediments to preservation in existing state policies and regulations.
11. Municipal preservation laws.
    • Amend State Historic Districts Act to improve usability;
    • Amend state enabling statute for local historical commissions to clarify their role as preservation planning bodies within municipal government.
12. Local technical expertise.
    • Develop basic training program for local preservation commissions;
    • Develop technical assistance materials, such as administrative manuals and design guidelines;
    • Continue joint MHC and Historic Massachusetts, Inc. educational projects, such as regional workshops, leadership conferences, and community forums;
    • Facilitate information exchange and collaboration among local commissions; encourage local commissions to carry out public information efforts;
    • Encourage wider participation in CLG program;
    • Continue integrating local commissions in community planning and development process;
    • Develop outreach activities to the Massachusetts Municipal Association, Mass Federation of Planning and Appeals Board, and regional planning agencies.
13. Heritage education.
    • Support Historic Massachusetts, Inc. in incorporating historic and cultural resource information into educational programs;
    • Encourage Teaching With Historic Places to use information about Massachusetts' historic and cultural resources;
    • Encourage local commissions and local school committees to develop or strengthen history curricula.
14. Public awareness.
    • Continue joint educational and public informational activities of the MHC and Historic Massachusetts, Inc.;
    • Develop broad public information initiatives such as public service announcements;
    • Develop state and local public information initiatives that reflect changing cultural and ethnic identities in the state;
    • Expand public information efforts about the National Register and historic property identification and preservation.
15. Private non-profit preservation network.
    • Provide opportunities, such as statewide conferences, for non-profit organizations to meet and share information;
    • Increase cooperation and coordination of preservation efforts and seek public-private partnerships;
    • Encourage capacity building to maximize limited financial and human resources;
    • Foster interaction of newly formed and well established groups.
16. Accessibility to historic resources.
    • Provide technical assistance about ADA to historic property owners;
    • Continue technical assistance to cities and towns in making municipal buildings accessible.

FEATURES OF NOTE
The revised Plan continues to build on and update the ground-breaking and innovative Cultural Resources in Massachusetts: A Model for Management, published in 1979, which established the resource-based and geographic-study-unit approach to managing and planning for the preservation of the state's cultural resources.