What is the Historic Resource Survey & Inventory Project?
As part of a Preserve America grant award, the City of Bellingham is
conducting an historic building survey in the Lettered Streets, York, and
South Hill Neighborhoods. Students and volunteers will work with Historic
Preservation Northwest, a consulting firm from Albany, Oregon to photograph
buildings constructed before 1960 to determine their style, age, and
character-defining features. The project will also include describing the
architectural styles of buildings and completing historical research.
Why Survey & Inventory?
Identifying cultural and historic resources is the first step toward
understanding and preserving what citizens hold as important and
significant, and is instrumental in defining neighborhood character.
The survey work completed through this project will enhance the
understanding of the building history in Bellingham’s older neighborhoods.
Information and photos from the survey will be entered into the State's
Historic Property Database and the City's Geographic Information System
(GIS), and will be available to the public for mapping, planning, and
neighborhood character illustration.
The consultant team, students, and volunteers will complete their
documentation from the public right-of-way and do not require admittance
onto private property.
Why were the Lettered Streets, York, and South Hill Neighborhoods selected for the project?
The three project neighborhoods were able to demonstrate
neighborhood-wide commitment to grant project goals, collectively pledged
3000 hours in volunteer match over the life of the project, had organized
neighborhood Historic Preservation Committees and were actively seeking
preservation assistance from the City.
Additionally, the project will advance Neighborhood Revitalization goals for
the York and Lettered Streets Neighborhoods, two of the City’s Community
Development Block Grant Target Areas.
Get Involved:
The project will involve volunteers from the community, as well as staff
from partners including the Whatcom Museum, Bellingham Public Library,
Western Washington University's Center for Pacific Northwest Studies, the
Washington State Archives, and the State Department of Archaeology and
Historic Preservation.
Contact:
Katie Franks
Project Manager
City of Bellingham
Planning & Community Development Department
(360) 778-8388
kfranks@cob.org
The Preserve America Program awarded 43 grants in 2007 totaling nearly $2.6
million. Bellingham was awarded $150,000, the maximum granted to Preserve
America recipients. The federal grant program provides funds on a matching
basis to assist Preserve America Communities with marketing, planning and
educational efforts associated with protection and utilization of community
heritage assets.
For more information visit the Preserve America website at
www.preserveamerica.gov.
