CPA Grants for Privately-Owned Historic Buildings: Unique Programs in Springfield & Cambridge

CPA communities often ask the Coalition for advice on providing CPA grants to private owners of significant historic buildings. While the design and administration of such programs can be a challenge, the cities of Springfield and Cambridge have both created customized programs that can be a good model for your community.

Springfield Historic Homes Restoration Program

The city of Springfield’s Community Preservation Committee established their Historic Homes Restoration Program as a pilot in 2020, and has now expanded the scope of their efforts in its second cycle. This unique program allows owners of homes located across seven specific historic districts in the city to apply for CPA grants of up to $30,000 in order to complete exterior restoration or rehabilitation projects.

Springfield has hundreds of privately-owned homes located throughout these historic districts, many of which were built over a century ago. The Springfield CPC acknowledged that they had an opportunity to facilitate historic preservation efforts in these neighborhoods, and so they developed a system to fund CPA grants that would effectively protect and preserve the historic quality and character of these buildings. Following the guidelines under the Historic Preservation category of CPA (not the Housing category), homeowners can now submit applications to the CPC for exterior projects such as the restoration of original windows and doors, installation of energy efficient storm windows, the restoration of porches, and exterior painting. The Historic Homes Program also hires a preservation consultant to review the work on each home to ensure that it complies with the Secretary of Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation.

“Bob McCarroll, the CPC Chair, was interviewed on WWLP local news in front of one of the homes restored with CPA funds, and this provided a great launch for the announcement of the new Historic Homes Restoration Program,” said Karen Lee, the Administrative Consultant for the Committee. “A small investment in our community now maintains our vital housing inventory before properties become a costly effort to replace. The long-term benefit for the residents of Springfield is made possible with CPA funds.”

During the pilot program in 2020, a total of $200,000 in CPA funds were granted to owners of nine houses in the historic McKnight neighborhood for exterior restoration work. Considering the limited amount of funding available each year, and the fact that the program has now expanded to seven different districts, the Springfield CPC also developed specific criteria for eligibility and a sliding scale for the funding that prioritizes homeowners with lower incomes. And while the CPC expects more applications than can be funded, the goal is that by preserving a handful of these buildings during each of their funding cycles, the CPA program will significantly protect the historic qualities of the city’s most venerated neighborhoods.

Cambridge Historical Commission CPA Grants

The Cambridge Historical Commission runs two separate programs that distribute CPA historic preservation funds in the form of competitive grants:

• First, the Preservation Grants for Income Eligible Homeowners and Affordable Housing Agencies are offered to low and moderate income homeowners to help with the restoration of exterior features that contribute to the original appearance of individual homes.
• Second, the Institutional Preservation Granting Program supports non-profit organizations that are working on projects involving the historic preservation of significant buildings.

This innovative model for funding local preservation projects has several benefits that allow for added flexibility and efficacy. The program funds projects on a rolling basis, so unlike most local CPCs, the Commission can provide grants to fund projects as the need arises throughout the year. Additionally, the granting program saves the community from having to debate and discuss the merits of each individual distribution at Town Meeting or in the City Council.

These elements are especially important for the Affordable Housing grant program: rather than taking up the community’s time with a warrant article on the restoration of “Mrs. Johnson’s windows,” the question of the project’s merit is left to the Historical Commission, whose staff are experts on the subject. Furthermore, the Cambridge Historical Commission has been working since the late 1960’s to compile documentation on every building in Cambridge—this means that the Commission has access to images of “Mrs. Johnson’s” original windows, information on who created them, and other records that aid in accurate preservation efforts. Cambridge residents can trust that the Commission is well equipped to make decisions on these individual cases without taking up the time of the legislative body.

Because many of the projects are protected by the regulations of the Historic or Neighborhood Conservation Districts, Historic Preservation Deed Restrictions are not required by the Cambridge Historical Commission. However, there is a “Recapture Clause” for projects that receive Institutional Preservation grants, allowing the Commission to reclaim a time-discounted portion of the granted funds if the building is sold at a later date.

May 2022