Big Ideas, Local Impacts

Connecticut homeowners’ grant opens the door for vital repairs, community building

Imagine taking a whistle-stop tour of Connecticut’s largest cities by train. Within the span of a few hours, you could visit some of the state’s densest urban cores, all filled with hundreds of historic structures. You might note the interesting designs of buildings in Manchester, where worker housing was constructed in the nineteenth century to attract a steady labor force to the city’s silk velvet factories. Perhaps you might wander through Bridgeport’s Pembroke City, laid out in a grid pattern reflecting Victorian ideas of city planning. Or you might pass through Whistleville, a Norwalk neighborhood situated within hearing-distance of passing trains, where a variety of houses occupied by Hungarian and Italian immigrants still line the streets. All of these neighborhoods form a distinct regional tapestry of places that evoke the New England experience— layers of living history that form an identifiable, regional sense of place.

Twenty-seven percent of Connecticut’s population lives in urban areas filled with historic buildings— Bridgeport, Hartford, Manchester, New Britain, New Haven, New London, Norwalk, Stamford, Waterbury, and West Haven. These ten cities represent a vital confluence not only of architectural styles, urban planning trends, and historic development patterns, but also of communities and neighbors who continue to shape the city landscape. They form the heart of Historic New England’s newest grant opportunity, the Edward F. Gerber Urban Preservation Fund, which will award an annual grant of up to $10,000 to a homeowner pursuing a distinct preservation project that will impact their neighborhood.

The grant will complement essential preservation work already being accomplished by organizations around the state. Preservation Connecticut, the State Historic Preservation Office, local historic district commissions, and grassroots community groups all provide support, insight, and expertise. Currently, preservation grants are available for nonprofit institutions as well as tax incentives for larger income-producing properties, such as industrial mill conversions. However, there are rarely grant opportunities for small, private residences.

Historic New England’s grant program will enable individual homeowners to decide what is important to preserve in their communities. It will incentivize homeowners working with people skilled in traditional trades work, which is often one of the most challenging aspects of owning an older home with one-of-a-kind, and sometimes complicated, elements. Perhaps most importantly, it will highlight what makes these cities unique and how historic assets connect the community to broader stories and shared spaces.

Historic homes such as these in New London, Connecticut, may qualify for the Edward F. Gerber Urban Preservation Fund, Historic New England’s new grant program for historic homeowners in that state. Photograph by Dylan Peacock, Historic New England staff.

This grant program would not have been possible without the creative forethought of Edward Gerber, who has roots in Bridgeport and North Haven and is a stalwart defender of historic buildings in New England and Washington, D.C. Many people who have an affinity with historic buildings can recall a time that made them lifelong preservation advocates. For Gerber, this turning point occurred when he was a student at Georgetown University in Washington. He saw the positive impact that unique historic buildings could have on individual communities. He also witnessed how Georgetown’s Historic District (established in 1950, it is the sixth oldest in the nation) leveraged its influence to prevent the widespread redevelopment of the area in the late twentieth century.

It is easy to think that historic districts and National Register nominations alone will protect a neighborhood. However, as Gerber quickly learned through involvement in his community, grassroots preservation work is more nuanced and complex. He has remained involved with the preservation community in the Washington area ever since, but was called back to New England in 2010 to save his godparents’ eighteenth-century residence in Westport, Connecticut, which he now calls home. True to his passion for preservation, Gerber has served on Westport's Historical District Commission and as president of the Westport Historic Society. He is a board member of Preservation Connecticut, an Advisory Council Member of the National Trust's President Wilson House, and a trustee and easement committee member of Historic New England.

Gerber has a firsthand perspective on preservation’s most pressing challenges and the current gaps in the field. Last year, after many travels around his home state, he began to think about the geographic areas that may benefit the most from added support and the ways in which a nonprofit organization could connect with individuals who are passionate about the character of their communities and homes. After collaborating with Historic New England staff, the idea for a homeowner grant came into focus.

The Edward F. Gerber Urban Preservation Fund notably diverges from traditional ideas about preservation with its intention to target a variety of buildings, some of which are typically not considered worthy of preservation attention. Reflecting on his varied experiences with different building types, Gerber said, “I hope that applicants for this grant will be representative of a variety of architectural styles, ranging from traditional Georgian, Federal, Greek Revival, Victorian, and Colonial Revival to triple-deckers, Cape Cods, and finally to Mid-Century Modern residences. My own background includes my childhood spent in a Mid-Century Modern house that was designed by a student of Walter Gropius, a series of inner-city Colonial Revivals, and currently a 1760s saltbox with alterations.”

For Gerber, Historic New England is an ideal match for his idea. Through the organization’s maintenance of a wide range of museum houses, as well as expertise garnered from ongoing management of 118 easement properties, Historic New England staff has the opportunity to regularly work with many building types and repair projects. In addition, our homeowner services program, white papers, and public programs provide guidance and support to a wide variety of constituents each year. This knowledge will be shared with homeowners in the grant program.

The unique projects funded by the grant will hopefully serve as case studies and catalysts for other local projects. Because of their density, urban spaces provide the framework for dynamic streetscapes where homes, businesses, and people interact—and historic buildings can often serve as anchors where a specific community identity can be reinforced and celebrated. This new grant is meant to provide another complementary piece to an emerging preservation toolkit—one that is increasingly flexible, inclusive, and community-focused.

For eligibility requirements and funding conditions, visit historicnewengland.org/helpful-links/awardsprograms/edward-f-gerber-urban-preservation-fund/.

Opportunities for Nonprofits

Since 2011, Historic New England’s Community Preservation Grants program, now funded by the Herbert and Louise Whitney Fund for Community Preservation, has awarded annual grants to nonprofit organizations in each New England state. These grants bolster projects that show New England’s diverse history and culture and have supported archival, conservation, preservation, and programmatic efforts. To apply, visit historicnewengland. org/herbert-louise-whitney-fund-communitypreservation-grants-now-available/.