The Marion Historical Commission is pleased to announce that Ms. Lynn Smiledge has been selected to complete Phase II of updating the Marion Village Historic Survey. Work will begin this month to expand and update the Inventory of Historic Assets, initially completed in 1998, to make it more accessible, easier to use, and fully compliant with present-day state standards.
The project is funded by a Survey & Planning Grant received last spring from the Massachusetts Historical Commission, (funded by the US Department of the Interior, National Park Service), with the local match to be funded by Community Preservation funds.
This work will continue our 2020 MHC grant efforts to update and expand the survey. Smiledge has done similar survey work in Wellfleet, Methuen, and Boston. She has also served on local preservation commissions in Andover and Boston where she is currently chair of the Boston Landmarks Commission.
The existing survey forms for the remainder of Marion Village, the Water Street area, the George Bonham Nye area (Converse and Pleasant Streets) and the southerly sections of the village will be updated and expanded. This information can then serve as the basis for determining if properties or areas are eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places, the nation’s primary tool for recognition of resources of historic and architectural significance. Listing in the National Register provides recognition but no constraints upon an individual property owners’ rights.
The project will be carried out over the next nine months, with completion expected by summer of 2022. The Marion Historical Commission is delighted that this project will soon be underway. The results will benefit individual property owners interested in the history of their homes, as well as being a useful planning tool available to local boards to ensure development decisions are in keeping with the Town’s goals for preservation of historic resources. Our thanks to the Community Preservation Committee for helping to fund this project.