Date: Fri 08-Nov-1996

Publication: Bee

Author: KAAREN

Quick Words:

National-Register-historic

Full Text:

State Preservation Panel Approves Local National Register Nominations

B Y K AAREN V ALENTA

Borough and town officials were officially notified this week that the State

Historic Preservation Board approved the nominations of the Hattertown

Historic District and the Borough of Newtown Historic District for inclusion

on the National Register of Historic Places.

John W. Shannahan, state historic preservation officer, said the nominations

have been forwarded to an official known as the Keeper of the National

Register at the National Park Service, US Department of the Interior, in

Washington, DC. The staff of the National Register office will review the

nominations to determine whether they meet the criteria for enrollment, he

said.

John Herzan, Connecticut's National Register coordinator, said the process

usually takes 30 to 45 days.

In late September the Connecticut Historical Commission conducted a public

meeting at the Newtown Meeting House to answer questions that residents may

have had about the National Register process. Only about a dozen people

attended.

Mr Herzan said the Connecticut Historical Commission's goal is to nominate all

local historic districts to the National Register. In the case of the Borough

of Newtown Historic District, the proposed National Register District

boundaries do not coincide with the boundaries of the existing historic

district.

"We look to the historic resources in the area to guide us in our boundaries,"

Mr Herzan said.

Mr Herzan said the National Register does not restrict the rights of private

property owners in the use, development or sale of private historic property.

Only in cases where an "unreasonable demolition" of historic property is

planned - such as if a bank wants to tear a historic building down to create a

parking lot - does the process provide a mechanism through the courts to

review the plan, he said.

The cost of putting a historic district on the National Register ranges from

$1,500 to $2,500. In the case of the two districts in Newtown, the State

Historical Commission is picking up the tab. To put an individual building on

the National Register usually costs around $1,500 if the process is paid by

the property owner, or $700 if it is paid by the state.

Mr Herzan said there is no advantage for individual property owners to seek

National Register listing once the entire district is listed.

The proposed borough historic district covers about 100 acres and includes

more than 200 buildings, including those which are not part of the Borough of

Newtown Historic District that was created earlier this year. The Hattertown

district is about 55 acres with 12 houses.

Listing in the National Register enables property owners to apply for federal

grants for historic preservation when funds are available. Federal investment

tax credits are available for rehabilitating historic commercial, industrial

and rental residential buildings.