Title:  State Historic Preservation Plan

Number of Pages:  44+
Approval Date:  January 23, 2003
Planning Cycle:  5 years

Contact Information:

Pamela Kennedy, Deputy Director
Rhode Island Historical Preservation
     Commission
Old State House
150 Benefit Street
Providence, Rhode Island 02903
(401) 222-2678; fax (401) 222-2968
E-mail: pkennedy@rihphc.ri.us

Mission/Vision Statement:
Not specifically identified.

Table of Contents:

Section One: Why Preserve Historic Buildings and Areas?

1. The value of historic buildings and areas
   
2. Preservation principles
Section Two: The Context for Preservation
1. Rhode Island's land and waterways
   
2. The people of Rhode Island
   
3. Making public policy decisions about preservation in Rhode Island
   
4. Preservation partners
Section Three: Preservation in Rhode Island - The Past
Section Four: Preservation in Rhode Island - Today
1. Identifying Rhode Island's historic places
2. Listing properties in the National and State Registers
3. Reviewing the impact of government projects
4. Archaeological resources
5. Providing financial assistance to preservation projects
6. Educational programming
7. Supporting local government preservation efforts
8. Organizing information about historic resources
Section Five: Preservation in Rhode Island - Tomorrow
1. What we protect
2. Setting our goals
Section Six: Using, Altering, and Replacing this Plan
Appendices
1. An Overview of Rhode Island History
2. How This Plan Was Prepared
3. Sources of Information About Historic Resources and Preservation in Rhode Island
4. Financial Needs - Community Buildings
5. List of Contexts and Property Types
6. Preparing a Community Historic Preservation Plan
7. Bibliography

PLAN DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES
Public Participation Strategies:

• Consultation with many individuals and groups who will use the plan, who have an interest in historic preservation, who have information about historic resources and related planning processes, or whose actions will affect historic resources;
• Continuous planning process regularly solicits and incorporates needs, concerns, and views of many groups and individuals;
• Draft plan reviewed by members of the Rhode Island Historical Preservation and Heritage commission, staff of the state's Division of Statewide Planning, the Technical Committee of the State Planning Council, and others interested in historic preservation planning.

• Staff conducted the study, revision, and writing of the plan.

ISSUES, THREATS, & OPPORTUNITIES

• Challenges in adapting old industrial properties and "brownfields," to compatible and productive use;
• Some city and town centers display a pattern of disinvestment, dilapidation, and vacancy;
• Neighborhood retail centers make good use of older buildings;
• Good development plans for historic commercial areas can help insure their economic vitality and visual quality;
• Change in governmental functions can lead to old public buildings becoming a drain on community resources;
• Landscapes may be seen as develop opportunity rather than preservation opportunity;
• Cultural resources included in local comprehensive planning;
• Growing awareness of the importance of our physical surroundings and historic preservation;
• All communities have been surveyed for historic buildings and areas, but identification of historic buildings, areas, and sites is an ongoing process;
• State level tax credits, loans, and other financial assistance are available, but need for it is always greater than the funds available;
• Historic district zoning is an effective protection tool for historic character;
• Changes in historical interpretation and in technology mandate continuing improvements and expansion of resource identification programs;
• Older surveys collected limited amounts of information; these gaps need filling and updating;
• Resources from the recent past need to be surveyed and evaluated, including suburban neighborhoods;
• Opportunity and necessity for wider availability of resource information;
• Strong program of financial and technical assistance for owners and stewards of historic resources;
• Technical advice on a wide range of preservation issues is available to the public;
• Too few seek the homeowner's tax credit;
• Existing federal and state tax credit programs do not apply to historic properties owned by non-profit organizations, but new bond issue in 2002 will address these needs;
• State resource protection program has strong record of success in some arenas, but is less successful in others;
• New Rhode Island Rehab Code in 2002 helps insure that work on historic buildings needs to meet common-sense standards;
• Many local communities do not have historic district zoning;
• Protecting archaeological sites in local communities can be challenging;
• Assistance from private groups of citizens may be necessary when state agencies are unable to provide adequate levels of maintenance and restoration for state-owned historic properties;
• Rhode Islanders are increasingly disappointed in the results of decades of inadequately restrained land development;
• Rural countryside and historic rural towns are being replaced by strip commercial development and low-density residential development;
• Historic urban centers and neighborhoods are suffering from disinvestment, deterioration, demolition, underuse, and abandonment;
• Historic preservation is an important tool in reversing the trends of disappearing farmlands, acres of new housing, and deteriorating urban neighborhoods;
• Tourism is important feature of state's economy; it can also help preserve historic places, but many historic sites that would benefit from increased visitation are least able to provide facilities visitors need;
• Renovation of older houses and preservation of old neighborhoods can help meet the state's housing needs;
• Towns and cities need financial and technical support to grow better and make good use of historic buildings;
• Need to understand the impact of information technology on making preservation information available to the public;
• Rhode Islanders need to know the impact that preservation can have on the quality of our environment and on the character of our communities;
• Specialized audiences, such as government officials, architects, lawyers, planners, and realtors, have special needs for information;
• Increasing publication costs and the difficulty of updating older publications suggest the use of internet-based outlets.

1. Locate, identify, and evaluate all of Rhode Island's historic resources.
2. Insure that those who own, care for, and invest in historic buildings, areas, and archeological sites have the technical and financial assistance they need.
3. Strengthen the protection of historic buildings, areas, and archeological sites from inappropriate alteration, neglect, and demolition.
4. Build better communities through historic preservation.
5. Increase public understanding of the values of historic buildings, areas, and archeological sites.

IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGIES
Strategies Implementing the Goals
(The Plan contains policies instead of objectives for each goal.)

1. Locate, identify, and evaluate resources
   • Survey and re-survey historic resources to insure representation of all periods and areas of significance, to fill data gaps, and to update;
   • Evaluate known resources to determine National Register eligibility;
   • Write and process National Register nominations;
   • Insure that survey and National Register information is easily accessible.
2. Technical and financial assistance.
   • Provide federal and state tax credits for rehab of income-producing properties;
   • Provide state tax credits to homeowner/occupants who maintain and rehab properties;
   • Inform owner-occupants about homeowner's tax credit & encourage preservation;
   • Provide loan funding for rehab and restoration projects;
   • Provide technical assistance to owners and stewards of historic resources.
3. Protect historic resources.
   • Review proposed federal and state government actions that may affect historic resources and insure impacts are minimized;
   • Encourage communities to use available protective mechanisms;
   • Preserve state-owned properties through appropriate use and adequate funding;
   • Encourage private groups to support the maintenance and restoration of state-owned properties.
4. Build better communities.
   • Planning for economic development, tourism, housing, and brownfield remediation should support preservation of existing historic resources;
   • Provide technical and financial assistance to communities that protect historic resources;
   • Assist local communities by developing new financial, legal, and planning tools to encourage preservation.
5. Increase public understanding.
   • Strengthen all aspects of preservation education;
   • Increase public education about preservation by meeting needs of specific audiences;
   • Provide technical assistance and training for local preservation officials;
   • Focus general public education efforts on mechanisms that explain historic preservation values.

FEATURE OF NOTE:
Provides four Preservation Principles to guide goal achievement activities:

1. The preservation of historic buildings and areas is a fundamental public interest, a proper and desirable exercise of the state's authority and leadership and the legitimate concern of its communities and its citizens.
2. The preservation of historic buildings and areas is not antithetical to progress or growth or good economic development but has been proven to add significantly to Rhode Island's economy.
3. Historic buildings and areas are best preserved by using them, either for their original purpose or by adapting them for a new use.
4. The preservation of historic buildings and areas is best achieved when it is integrated into public planning processes rather than taking place in opposition to those processes.