1. Leverett Historical Commission Presentation to the Select Board
Strategic Planning
Leverett Historical Commission Presentation to the Select Board
March, 2017

2. The Problem
Today ad hoc requests come in to Historical Commission and Community Preservation Commission
No clear sense of what historical properties are worth investing in as a town
No clear consensus of what the citizens of Leverett think is worth preserving
No clear idea of the economic, historical and social significance of each of the assets
No plan to maintain properties

3. Why is a strategic plan needed?
To define what historical assets we have
To determine what the historical significance is for each one
To create guidelines for defining our historical entities
To define the audiences who will use the assets
To determine what our priorities are for restoration, preservation, conservation, and rehabilitation
To decide how they are going to be paid for and maintained

4. What we know
We have:
4 historical districts with 123 houses and 14 cemeteries within those districts, including Mt. Toby and the Peace Pagoda
Several properties within the town of Leverett
Schoolhouse Museum
Leverett Family Museum
Beaman-Marvell Box Factory
Saw Mill (No. Leverett)
Ad hoc smaller sites—Pound, Pond, Coke kilns, archaeological sites such as mill remains along Roaring Brook
Archival material in Town Vault and in the Museums

5. What we have undertaken
A preliminary plan to archive the documents in the Town vault and have executed parts of that plan through grants and donated labor
Digitized our town records through the Digital Commonwealth Project
Created a spreadsheet that details important elements of historical significance from the Town records that will ultimately be able to be searchable in a database
Created a preliminary plan to integrate all the digital assets into one database so that historians, descendants, townspeople and other interested parties can do research and explore the history of Leverett

6. What we are doing in 2017 We are: Continuing our cemetery research—
Cataloguing the condition of 6 of our cemeteries
Working with Historical Society and Cemetery Association to register our remaining cemeteries at the State and National level so that we can apply for a planning grant
Launching the cemetery NRHP designation project
Continuing the archiving and digitizing of the Town Records

7. Guidelines for inclusion of assets need to be created
How do we define their significance?
Economic benefit to community
Historical significance to historians and other researchers
Personal significance to descendants and other interested parties
Community significance for the ethos of our town

8. How do we secure funding for the Historical properties?
Which models are appropriate?
Town pays for the maintenance of all properties, but only continues to own those it currently owns
Town employs a public/private partnership model for purchase, maintenance and upkeep of all properties
Town increases tax base to buy and maintain historically significant properties and other assets
Town continues with current ad hoc model
Town applies for grants and other public funding sources
Other???

9. Conclusion
We need a strategic plan that outlines our assets, goals, and timing for restoration, preservation, conservation, and rehabilitation projects and for the execution of our ad hoc projects
We propose to execute one for Leverett
We would like your support