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From: Chris Saccardi, Community Preservation Coalition
Date: 1/8/2003
Time: 2:25:54 PM
Remote Name: 208.25.215.2
This sounds like a very interesting project! According to the text of the recent (summer, 2002) amendment to the CPA, “with respect to historic resources, rehabilitation shall have the additional meaning of work to comply with the Standards for Rehabilitation stated in the United States Secretary of the Interior's Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties codified in 36 C.F.R. Part 68.” So yes, CPA funds that are used for historic preservation should comply with these standards. They are, however, really quite broad guidelines that do not necessarily create much of a constraint (unless you are asking for historic tax credits or some type of grant which calls for a higher standard). As long as the adaptive reuse of a structure does not do undue violence to the exterior appearance, the interior space can often be substantially altered (except in the relatively rare cases that the interior space has its own significance, either architecturally or culturally; e.g., Washington slept here.) In answer to your second question, a lot can be done with CPA funds. You may use them to increase the quality of the affordable units, or to preserve some of the more expensive historically accurate features in these apartments. If you have any specific questions, feel free to give me a call at 617-367-8998.