Historic Preservation Commission begins mapping for a Grantsville Historic District

Alta Calcagno, chair of the Grantsville Historic Preservation Commission, said the panel will begin work to define a Grantsville Historic District after a technical briefing from the city planner at its April 16 meeting.

City Planner Bill Cobabe told commissioners the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) map identifies which buildings "qualify" (marked green) and which do not (marked red) for inclusion in a historic district, and that some structures altered over time may require additional documentation to be considered contributing. "The SHPO map shows what buildings are qualifying for the historic district and what isn’t qualifying, which will help once the HPC is able to pick the boundaries for the district," Cobabe said.

Cobabe advised the commission to make the boundaries "inclusive but as tight as possible" and to assemble building-level information, dates of construction and stories that will support an application to SHPO and a presentation to the City Council. Alta Calcagno said she will contact SHPO and that the commission should prepare a packet of historic narratives and documentation to accompany the boundary proposal.

Commissioners assigned homework to survey North Street for potential inclusion and to review the interactive SHPO map. Cobabe said the county may also hold useful records and that once the HPC has a draft plan it should request time on a future City Council agenda to present the proposed district.

The commission did not make a formal boundary decision at the meeting; members scheduled work and outreach steps to build the application materials before returning with a defined proposal.