CT Trust Awards $111,000 to Three Cities for Preservation Planning

The Connecticut Trust has selected Danbury, New London and New Britain to receive $111,000 of grant funding to facilitate preservation and cultural asset planning. 

The Connecticut Trust, through a grant from the Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism, selected the three cities from a pool of 15 applicants from around the state.  The goal of the grant is to produce action plans for underutilized cultural and historic assets (i.e., buildings, historic districts, town greens and parks, etc) in their communities.  The cities will use the funding to hire key professionals to assist in planning their revitalization efforts.

Selection criteria included:

• Connecticut Trust funding will have a significant impact on an identified resource, and without such funding, the planning would not take place;
• Connecticut Trust funding will work in tandem with existing planning efforts and revitalization goals for downtowns;
• Non-profits and other stakeholders are involved in the effort to reflect community interests in proposed plans;

“We believe that vibrant communities have a mix of historic buildings with a variety of cultural, commercial/retail and natural resources ,“ said Helen Higgins, Executive Director for the Connecticut Trust.  “The grant will help these cities identify historic and cultural amenities in their downtowns and produce action plans to reuse and market them.”

The City of Danbury was awarded $45,000 and will use the grant proceeds to hire needed professionals to plan for the revitalization and reuse of the Palace Theater, located downtown. 

New Britain was awarded $21,000 and will use its grant to organize a process and plan for a design review, demo delay and zoning modifications for historic buildings in its downtown, with an emphasis on preservation.

New London was awarded $45,000 and will use its grant to study a downtown urban neighborhood to identify its historic and cultural assets and work in conjunction with the community to develop an action plan for the resources. 

Funding for the Connecticut Trust program was made possible by the Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism (CCT), through a Special Initiatives Grant.  Other cities and towns that applied for the program through a competitive selection process are Barkhamsted, Putnam, Windham, Torrington, Norfolk, Rocky Hill, Canaan, East Hartford, Bridgeport, New Haven, Manchester and Plainville.  The Connecticut Trust will continue to work with these municipalities to achieve their preservation and revitalization goals.