Scenarios and Guidance

1. Get involved with PCT by signing up for our emails or reaching out.

2. Get involved with Connecticut Preservation Action, the statewide advocacy group.

3. Consider joining your local commission or volunteering for a local preservation group.

1. Use ConnCRIS to determine if the property is on the State or National Register of Historic Places and to gather other important information. Understand the types of Historic Designations that may be useful in helping preserve a property. PCT staff can help with the processing of nominations to the State Register of Historic Places or the National Register of Historic Places.

2. Find out if it is already protected using the Local Historic Districts and Properties tool or contact your local planning department and inquire about its status. Ask if a demolition application has been submitted and if it has been identified on any surveys.

3. Ask the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) for advice. Federal and federally-sponsored programs and projects are reviewed pursuant to Sections 106 and 110 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA). You can also ask SHPO staff what steps are being taken under CT Environmental Protection Act if a demolition permit has been pulled.

4. Contact local interest groups, community organizations (churches, temples, cultural centers, etc.), historical societies, architectural heritage associations to raise awareness and encourage advocacy and protection. Learn more in A Citizen’s Guide To Section 106 Review.

5. Gather resources about how to save places:

• Read the Guide to Community Action and this more comprehensive guide to preserving places from Preservation Pennsylvania.
• Learn the process of Organizing to Save Places.
• Use guidance from the National Park Service about how to preserve a place.
• Read Preservation Brief 31: Mothballing Historic buildings and encourage the municipality to mothball the Building. This is a method of safely securing a building against vandalism and water intrusion that can harm the building; it buys time until a preservation solution can be found.
• If timing is right, organize a Jane’s Walk to build community support.

6. Alert local media about the threatened building and its significance to local and state history. For more information on tools and strategies for historic preservation advocacy, see the Vernacular Architecture Forum website and dig into How to Save a Place: Get the Word Out.

1. Explore the property’s designation on ConnCRIS. Contact SHPO for more information about archaeology.

2. Consult NPS Preservation Brief #48: Preserving Grave Markers in Historic Cemeteries

2. Seek PCT’s funding opportunities or SHPO’s grants.

3. Donating open space can help protect it in perpetuity. Seek advice from organizations like those listed by the CT NEMO Program or The Recreation and Natural Heritage Trust Program for encouraging land donations.

4. If a cemetery, seek advice from professional and volunteer organizations like the Connecticut Cemetery Association. Network with others who are doing the same work through the Connecticut Gravestone Network. Encourage the municipality to acquire title to an abandoned cemetery. You can learn more in Site Lines: Grave Deeds and Abandoned Cemeteries.

5. Call attention to the property by nominating it to Landslide.

6. Alert local media about the threatened building and its significance to local and state history. Get ideas in How to Save a Place: Get the Word Out.

1. For subsurface resources, reach out to the State Archaeologist in the Office of State Archaeology by email. Including photos is helpful.

2. Contact the State Historic Preservation Office.

3. Reach out to PCT’s Circuit Riders.

1. Ask the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) for advice.

2. Connect with the Office of State Archaeology to determine if the current site has any known archaeological features.