The town’s highest elected official, together with parks and public works leaders, on Thursday met with local preservationists and historic registry experts from the state to explore the benefits—monetary, aesthetic and other—of designating as historic some New Canaan buildings.
During a recent interview with NewCanaanite.com—part of which can be seen in the video clip at right—First Selectmen Rob Mallozzi also said homeowners here who pursue historic designation may be entitled to tax credits and grants when they make structural changes to those houses.
“What we found out that was most encouraging is that there are not a lot of strings attached, so all in all it was a very good day and it was a positive to discuss the whole concept for preservation,” Mallozzi said. “We’ve got something unique which you cannot re-create, and we need to preserve what we have.”
The comments come on the heels of a public workshop hosted by the New Canaan Preservation Alliance—a nonprofit organization formed in 2007 “in response to rising concerns over the rapid disappearance of the town’s historic built and natural environments,” its website says.
In an interview Sunday (just after Caffeine & Carburetors) with NewCanaanite.com, NCPA Board of Directors President Rose Scott Long noted that Town Hall is the lone municipal building now registered as historic.
Scott Long said the purpose of the lunch with municipal officials and the workshop were to provide information and clear up some common misunderstandings—for example, that a historic designation on a home or other building prevents its owners from doing work on it.
About 60 people attended the workshop, she said.
“I am hoping that this conversation will continue and the next step is to find out what is eligible and what is town interested in doing,” she said.