NJDEP Awards Maplewood $20K in Historic Preservation Grants

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) announced, Tuesday, that the Chris Christie Administration is awarding historic preservation grants to four municipalities including Maplewood.

NJDEP Commissioner Bob Martin announced that grants totaling $93,000 would be awarded to Maplewood, Montclair, West Orange and Cape May City.

Maplewood will receive a Certified Local Government (CLG) Grant of $20,000 for the fourth phase of an intensive-architectural survey. The three previous phases were also funded by CLG grants.

The fourth phase will address approximately 270 historic resources in the College Hill neighborhood, said Martin.

“The Department is making these grants available to help communities identify and protect their historic properties,’’ said Dan Saunders, Administrator of the State Historic Preservation Office.“These grants give communities the tools to create a future for historic properties through municipal planning and ultimately through the actions of many New Jersey residents who proudly preserve the historic homes and properties in their communities.’’

New Jersey annually sets aside 10 percent of the state’s allocation of federal historic preservation funds for Certified Local Government grants, which are administered by the DEP’s Historic Preservation Office (HPO), said Martin. These grants are available for a wide variety of projects, including public education, design guidelines, surveys, adaptive reuse studies, preservation plans/ordinances and National Register nominations.

West Orange will receive $24,500 for an intensive-level architectural survey of 100 historic resources in the St. Cloud neighborhood and the Main Street corridor. The city’s last survey, done in 1992, is in major need of updating. The first two neighborhoods chosen are those with the greatest concentration of historic resources.

Montclair will receive $23,500 for the creation of a graphically designed set of detailed and comprehensive historic preservation design guidelines. This will facilitate the preservation of Montclair’s historic buildings by assisting homeowners, architects, and contractors as they plan and implement projects.

Cape May City will receive $25,000 for the continuation of its ongoing local historic district survey. Since the local historic district was amended in 2008, 883 properties have been surveyed. A total of 457 properties out of 1,525 remain to be surveyed. At an estimated cost of $135 per survey, this grant will allow for the completion of an additional 185 surveys.