In the wake of Hurricane Irene, this is clearly an extremely difficult time for many Vermonters.

Even after seeing the devastation first hand, it's hard for us to fully comprehend what thousands of homeowners, residents, business people, and community members are really experiencing. Our hearts go out to the many Vermonters who are suffering.

Brandon, VT

As we all try to recover, the historic preservation community is doing our best to focus on helping property owners rebuild and businesses reopen.

Over the last three weeks, we and our partners have completed a preliminary survey of a staggering 700 flood damaged buildings in 25 communities, all in our downtowns and village centers. Waterbury alone has 183 flood damaged buildings.  In Wilmington, 33 of 57 buildings have significant structural damage.

Our purpose in surveying these communities is to get a complete understanding of the scope of the damage so that we all can deliver the best services possible and leverage as many local, state and federal resources to save and re-use these important places.

Bethel, VT

The survey was completed in partnership with:

• The Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development;
• The Vermont Division for Historic Preservation;
• The Northeast Regional Office of the National Trust for Historic Preservation;
• The Historic Preservation Program at the University of Vermont;
• Engineering Ventures;
• Keefe and Wesner Architects;
• Smith and Vansant Architects;
• Stevens and Associates, PC; and
• many individual volunteers.

Thank you all.

We'd also like to extend an enormous thank you to all the people who have contributed to our Flood Relief Fund.  Thanks to the generous donations of more than 125 individuals, the Water Cerf Fund, and the Daniel K. Thorne Intervention Fund of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, we have raised in excess of $42,000.

Wilmington, VT

In turn we have been able to cover 100% of the costs of over 40 Engineering and Conditions Assessment Grants for flood damaged properties, and the requests are still coming in. For more information about getting one of these grants, please contact our main office at (802) 658-6647. Please visit our website for an extensive list of resources for dealing with flood damaged properties.

Thank you so very much for your support and generosity in these challenging times for Vermont.

Sincerely,



Paul Bruhn
Executive Director

P.S. If you wish to make a donation to our Flood Relief Fund, you may do so online here.

 

Resources for Flood Damaged Properties