With centuries of historic and architecturally significant buildings, Fall River residents now have access to a resource created to help homeowners navigate the maintenance and upkeep of historic properties for the first time.
The Preservation Society of Fall River and the city of Fall River’s Historical Commission are pleased to announce the completion of Fall River’s first Design Guidelines.
“The creation and adoption of historic preservation Design Guidelines for Fall River’s protected historic district is an outstanding accomplishment,” Preservation Society President James Soule said. “The Guidelines are specifically for the protected Highlands Local Historic District, but its breadth and coverage allows it to be used for historic properties across the city for preservationists, general contractors, and homeowners alike.”
The release of the Design Guidelines marks the completion of an initiative started by the Preservation Society in 2014 when it helped create Fall River’s first protected historic district – known as a Massachusetts General Law 40C Local Historic District. The Fall River Historical Commission is the governing body in charge of the city’s 40C Local Historic District in the Highlands, which oversees a set of rules to ensure the neighborhood maintains its historic charm.
“The Fall River Historical Commission is thrilled to have completed its set of Design Guidelines in conjunction with the Fall River Preservation Society and the Fall River Planning Board,” said Historical Commission Chair Jason Bouchard-Nawrocki. “This valuable resource will help streamline the review and approval process for property owners within the Chapter 40C Highlands Local Historic District. It helps answer many of the questions that the board frequently receives regarding an historic property in the city.”
“While the City has one singular local historic district, the Guidelines were created with the mindset of expanding and creating additional protected local historic districts in the future,” added Bouchard-Nawrocki.
The Design Guidelines detail some of the challenges historic homeowners commonly face as well as the solutions and maintenance to prevent future more costly issues. The Design Guidelines were funded by a $50,000 Community Preservation Act grant to the Preservation Society in FY2020 and were created by Dominique Hawkins of Preservation Design Partnership in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
“The documents will be available to the public and can at once aid historic homeowners in basic maintenance needs,” said Soule. “We hope and expect that the ease and accessibility of using the Guidelines will help prevent unnecessary loss of our older and historic housing stock.”
A special note of appreciation to former Historical Commission and Community Preservation Committee member Antone Dias, who helped begin the Preservation Design Guidelines project.
The city of Fall River’s Design Guidelines is free for the public to download and can be found on the websites of the Fall River Historical Commission, the Preservation Society of Fall River, and the Fall River Community Preservation Committee.
What is a Historic District?
National Register of Historic Places Historic District: The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.
Local Historic District: A local historic district is a district designated by a local ordinance, which falls under the jurisdiction of a local historic preservation review commission. A local historic district is generally “overlaid” on the existing zoning classifications in a community. Therefore, a local district commission deals only with the appearance of the district, not with the uses of those properties.
