Posted: February 20, 2008 11:59:15 PST
Three Bellingham neighborhoods - Lettered Streets, York and South Hill - are the focus of a project to document their history. A public meeting scheduled for 6:30 p.m. February 26 will offer information about how the project can benefit neighborhood planning activities and provide details about how to get involved.
In July 2007, the City of Bellingham received a $150,000 Preserve America grant to complete an historic resource survey and inventory project. This project will explore and document the history of the people, buildings and landscapes that have formed three of Bellingham's oldest neighborhoods: Lettered Streets, York, and South Hill.
"The three neighborhoods were selected because they had all initiated citizen-based research and inventory activities, and were able to demonstrate a shared commitment to supporting the project," said Katie Franks, the manager of the project.
The City will use the grant money to pay for professional services, and has contracted with Historic Preservation Northwest, a preservation consulting firm out of Albany, Oregon. The consultant team will lead the survey and will help organize citizens interested in volunteering with the project.
City staff, neighbors, students and volunteers will work with professional preservation consultants to research buildings constructed before 1960 and document their age, style, character-defining features and history. Survey information will be used for neighborhood planning, definition of neighborhood character, and the potential nomination of a National Historic District in each neighborhood.
More details will be provided at a public meeting scheduled for Tuesday, February 26 from 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. in the Whatcom Museum Rotunda Room, 121 Prospect Street.
In 2007 the Preserve America program awarded 43 grants 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.
This is a collaborative project sponsored by the City's Planning and Community Development Department, the Whatcom Museum, and the Bellingham Public Library. Other key project partners are the Western Washington University Center for Pacific Northwest Studies and the State Northwest Regional Archives.
For more information about the project or if you have history or old photos of your home or property, contact Katie Franks, Planning & Community Development: (360) 778-8388, or kfranks@cob.org, or visit www.cob.org/services/neighborhoods/historic/index.aspx.
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Media Contact:
Katie Franks
Planning & Community Development
(360) 778-8388
kfranks@cob.org
