REGION – The National Park Service has approved New Hampshire’s 10-year historic preservation plan, which will serve as a guide for historic preservation statewide over the coming decade, the New Hampshire Division of Historical Resources (NHDHR) announced recently.
According to the NHDHR, which serves as the state’s historic preservation office, “New Hampshire’s 10-year preservation plan” provides a snapshot of the current status of historic preservation in New Hampshire, looks back at what’s been happening statewide, and “looks forward with a vision vital to preserving New Hampshire’s identity.”
To create the plan, the NHDHR collected input from hundreds of respondents via a questionnaire that was distributed to its contact list, at historic preservation events and at non-preservation-oriented social gatherings.
The plan addresses eight topics at length, including “who is doing preservation in New Hampshire?,” “financial opportunities for preservation in New Hampshire,” and “long-term community vision and planning.”
The National Park Service noted that New Hampshire’s “plan exceptionally recognizes the challenges of historic preservation in the state,” adding that it “pays special attention to how historic preservation affects every resident of the state, and the goals integrated into the plan focus on how to continue to better the lives of all residents.”
New Hampshire’s 10-year preservation plan identifies four specific goals: (1) increase public awareness and appreciation of historic properties and special places for their influence on the economic vitality, sense of place, and identity at the state and local level; (2) broaden content, availability, and use of training opportunities, while expanding access to existing information and guidance; (3) incorporate and strengthen historic preservation as an element in local, regional, state, and federal decision-making, ensuring its role as a critical part of interdisciplinary planning efforts; and (4) expand the use and availability of existing funding and incentives, and promote the creation of new funding and incentives for historic and cultural resources.
“Historic preservation is an integral part of who we are in New Hampshire and how we operate, because it simultaneously stewards the past while securing our future,” said Adam Crepeau, commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. “Generations of Granite Staters have drawn on our famous Yankee ingenuity – and frugality – to preserve our cultural heritage in ways that also drive economic success.
“With New Hampshire’s 10-year plan now approved by [the] National Park Service, it’s our hope that everyone in the state who supports historic preservation will draw on the four goals listed in the plan to achieve their communities’ desired outcomes.”
Completion of each state’s historic preservation plan is a requirement for state historic preservation offices to receive federal funding from the National Park Service, an agency within the U.S. Department of the Interior.
A PDF of New Hampshire’s 10-year historic preservation plan can be downloaded from the NHDHR website, www.nhdhr.dncr.nh.gov.
New Hampshire’s Division of Historical Resources, the State Historic Preservation Office, was established in 1974 and is part of the New Hampshire Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. NHDHR’s mission is to preserve and celebrate New Hampshire’s irreplaceable historic resources through programs and services that provide education, stewardship, and protection. For more information, visit the website above or call 603-271-3483.